The Madras High Court on Friday quashed as many as 19 criminal defamation cases, filed at the behest of the State government during the AIADMK regime, against incumbent Chief Minister M.K. Stalin.
Justice M. Nirmal Kumar allowed all 19 quash petitions filed by Mr. Stalin between 2016 and 2021 and set aside the cases pending before various district courts.
A majority of the defamation cases had been filed between 2018 and 2020. Among them was one filed against Mr. Stalin for having given an interview to the media during a visit to his Kolathur constituency on December 7, 2020 when he was the Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly.
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Media interview
In the interview, he accepted the title ‘Statement King’, given to him by then Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami, by saying that issuing statements was not a crime. He, in turn, gave the Chief Minister the title ‘Corruption King’.
In his quash petition, Mr. Stalin contended that the criminal defamation case had been filed against him with a malicious intention.
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Similarly, another defamation case had been filed in 2020 against Mr. Stalin for having criticised the then Chief Minister for placing a financial burden on the people during lockdown.