The Madras High Court has quashed criminal proceedings pending before magistrate courts in the State against actor Suhasini Maniratnam, who had spoken up for actor Kushboo who came under attack from certain sections in Tamil Nadu for making some observations on pre-marital sex in a magazine interview.
As in the case of Ms. Kushboo, several private complaints were preferred in magistrate courts against Ms.Suhasini. Eight cases were taken up. In some cases, summons were issued to her. In her petitions, filed by counsel C.Seethapathy, before the Madras High Court, Ms.Suhasini sought to quash the proceedings before the lower courts.
Justice C.S.Karnan quashed the proceedings against Ms. Suhasini. This followed the Supreme Court's order setting aside the Madras High Court's judgment directing the chief metropolitan magistrate, Egmore, to conduct a joint trial of the cases against Ms. Kushboo.
Talking to The Hindu , Ms. Suhasini said Ms. Kushboo was courageous in facing the cases against her. “I am equally courageous,” she said.
Recalling the period when cases were filed against her one after another, Ms. Suhasini said: “I got summons every day.” She described the situation she faced then as traumatic. “People were so scared around me.” When some persons had spoken of the cases as a “black mark,” Ms. Suhasini recalled that she had said: “This is the only good thing I have done.”
Ms. Suhasini said she had only apologised on behalf of Tamils to Ms. Kushboo who was facing a slew of cases for her remarks. She was neither in agreement nor disagreement with Ms. Kushboo's statements on pre-marital sex.
