The Madras High Court on Tuesday ruled in favour of Perumal Murugan, author of novel Madhorubhagan , granting him relief from all the controversies that shrouded the work of fiction that compelled him to announce that he would withdraw his entire body of work from publication and never write again.
Tamil Nadu Progressive Writers and Artists Association president S.Tamilselvan, expressing solidarity with the writer, had challenged the decision of a peace committee at a meeting organised by the district administration in Namakkal on January 12. The decision was that Mr. Murugan had agreed to issue an unconditional apology, delete the controversial portions from his book, and withdraw unsold copies from the market.
Meanwhile, a group of people, claiming to be residents of Tiruchengode, approached the High Court to initiate criminal charges against the author.
Concluding the year-long legal battle, the First Bench of Chief Justice S. K. Kaul and Justice Puspha Sathyanarayana held that the settlement arrived at the peace meet would not be binding on the author. It also dismissed the plea moved by the residents, and consequently quashed an FIR filed against Mr. Murugan.
The court directed the State government to circulate a series of guidelines framed by the court to handle such situations among the State police and to form an expert committee to handle such issues.
Key Developments
- › BJP, RSS demand ban on 'Madhorubagan' and arrest of the author. Copies burnt at Tiruchengode. >Read more
- › The Tamil Nadu Progressive Writers and Artistes Association express solidarity with Mr. Murugan >Read more
- › Hindutva ideologue and writer Aravindan Neelakantan reiterated that the RSS had never favoured the idea of banning books. >Read more
- › Peace restored in Tiruchengode after an agreement between Mr. Murugan and various members of Hindu outfits. >Read more
Published - July 05, 2016 12:45 pm IST
