The Chennai city police on Monday stated that no case was made out against actor Kamal Haasan, whom a social activist had accused of misleading the public through his recent tweets, in which he had cast doubts about the efficacy of nilavembu kudineer , a herbal drink being promoted by the State government to fight the spread of dengue. The petitioner had also sought criminal defamation proceedings against the actor.
On October 19, G. Devarajan of Sembium lodged a complaint with the police, seeking action against Mr. Haasan for his tweets asking “people associated with his movement” not to distribute nilavembu kudineer till its safety and efficacy were proven by conclusive research.
The petitioner contended that Mr. Haasan’s tweets were defamatory and were made with the intention of instigating “a big anti-government revolt.”
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After perusing the contents of the complaint, the cyber crime cell of the city police decided not to initiate action against Mr. Haasan. Hence, the petitioner approached the Madras High Court, seeking a direction to the city police to register a case against the actor.
HC’s direction
Last week, the High Court directed the police to file a First Information Report (FIR) against Mr. Haasan, if any cognisable offence was made out from the complaint.
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On Friday, the cyber crime cell wrote a letter to Mr. Devarajan, stating, “There is no prima facie case made out on the complaint given by you. Hence, your complaint is closed.”
“No cognisable case was made out. Hence, we have not registered a case. We made it clear that there was no element of criminal offence in the tweet and we closed the complaint,” A senior police official told The Hindu.