The embattled chairman and managing director of BEML V.R.S. Natarajan on Tuesday was granted bail by an Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) court here in connection with a defamation case filed against him by a shareholder of the public sector defence undertaking.
The IX ACMM court granted him bail on a bond and a surety of Rs. 25,000 each after he personally appeared before the judge to move the bail application. Chief general manager of BEML B.R. Subramaniam Reddy executed the surety. Tuesday's appearance of Mr. Natarajan before the IX ACMM was necessitated after K.S. Periyaswamy, a shareholder of BEML and also a former administrative assistant in the company, initiated criminal proceedings in October 2011 against him for allegedly making defamatory remarks.
The petitioner contended that during the annual general body meeting on August 13, 2010, Mr. Natarajan had made defamatory remarks while answering questions raised by him . He had also named M.E.V. Selvam, BEML's company secretary, along with Mr. Natarajan, as respondents. Later, both the respondents moved the Karnataka High Court for quashing the proceedings. The High Court allowed the lower court to proceed against Mr. Natarajan, but quashed proceedings against Mr. Selvam.
The IX ACMM court posted the case to June 8.
