The Supreme Court has posted for hearing on Thursday a writ petition filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy seeking to quash five criminal defamation complaints filed against him by the Tamil Nadu government at the instance of the former Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, alleging that his statements were defamatory.
On Wednesday, Dr. Swamy made a ‘mention’ before a Bench comprising Chief Justice H.L. Dattu and Justices Ms. Ranjana Desai (who retired on Wednesday) and A.K. Sikri that the trial court in Chennai was to hear the defamation complaints on Thursday and that his petition should be listed immediately. The CJI said it would be listed on Thursday before an appropriate Bench and gave him liberty to approach the court if he faced any problem.
In his petition, Dr. Swamy challenged the constitutional validity of Sections 499 and 500 of the IPC (relating to criminal defamation) contending that these provisions violated the fundamental rights guaranteed under Article 19 (1) (a) on freedom of speech and expression. He said “these provisions are a throwback to an earlier repressive British regime and that they run counter to the international benchmarks on freedom, particularly of the media.”
Dr. Swamy said “the second challenge is to the vires of Section 199(2) of the Cr.PC [which deals with a special remedy in regard to criminal defamation of a public servant in respect of his conduct in the discharge of his public functions].” He said the Tamil Nadu government, at the instance of Ms. Jayalalithaa, had resorted to these provisions by filing hundreds of criminal cases against citizens concerned, members of the public and more particularly, members of the Press.
Referring to three defamation complaints against him, he said they were used to cause enormous harassment to him. He said “the scenario not only poses a threat to the media for not expressing their views openly, it is also a cause of great concern for the public.”
