The Madras High Court on Monday dismissed petitions filed by Municipal Administration Minister S.P. Velumani and some government civil contractors to gag Arappor Iyakkam, a non-governmental organisation, and its managing trustee Jayaram Venkatesan from making allegations of corruption against them.
Justice R. Subramanian rejected the plea on the ground that the petitioners had neither made out any prima facie case for grant of an interim injunction sought by them nor the balance of convenience was in favour of them. On the other hand, the NGO was in possession of prima facie materials to substantiate the allegations, he said.
Stating that a pre-trial interim injunction could be issued only if the allegations appeared to be entirely false or that they had been made with a mala fide intention, the judge agreed with Arappor Iyakkam’s counsel V. Suresh that none of the two essential requirements had been satisfied in the present case as the NGO was in possession of substantial documents.
The lawyer also brought it to the notice of the court that it was only because of the sustained efforts of the NGO and its reports carried in newspapers that people in various localities had become aware of rules and regulations and began insisting on civil contractors in their localities to lay roads only after milling the existing tar.
The minister and the contractors had insisted on the gag order pending adjudication of civil suits preferred by them seeking damages to the tune of ₹1 crore for having defamed them.
The contractors specifically contended that they were not public servants and therefore the NGO could not be allowed to damage their reputation.
However, rejecting their contention, Justice Subramanian said, the contractors could not claim immunity from public scrutiny especially when they were executing civil works for the government and were paid from the public exchequer. He also dismissed another petition filed by the minister for a gag order against Tamil magazine Junior Vikatan represented by its counsel N. Ramesh.
Dismissing yet another petition filed by R. Chandrasekar, Editor of AIADMK’s mouthpiece Namadhu Amma, with a plea to restrain Tamil magazine Nakheeran from carrying articles damaging his reputation, the judge directed the magazine not to carry the photographs of his close relatives alone.
He recorded the submissions of advocate P.T. Perumal, representing Nakheeran, that the plaintiff was closely associated with politics with his wife having contested the Coimbatore municipal corporation elections and therefore all his activities were being closely watched by the media and the people.
