HC stays defamation cases filed against Arappor Iyakkam

CHENNAI: A division bench of Madras High Court on Tuesday stayed three defamation cases filed against Arappor Iyakkam - an anti-corruption NGO. These defamation cases against the NGO were filed by a private engineering firm seeking damages to the tune of Rs 3 crore for making posts on social media alleging that the company was involved in irregularities in getting tenders from Chennai and Coimbatore corporations in 2018.

The bench comprising Justice M Duraiswamy and Justice Sunder Mohan passed the direction on hearing the plea filed by Arappor Iyakkam.

The petitioner prayed for a direction to quash all the defamation cases pending before a single judge of the Madras HC filed by the private company.

“After lodging the complaint about the tender irregularities against the private firm with the DVAC, we made it public on social media platforms. However, the firm had moved the defamation suits only after a period of three years since we made the charges, ” the petitioner submitted through their counsel D Nagasaila.

The petitioner organisation also stated that the company, by filing these kinds of defamation suits, is trying to stop people who are exposing corruption issues.

On recording the submissions, the judges passed an interim stay on the defamation cases. The bench also directed the private company and its shareholder R Chandrasekar to file their response within six weeks.

In 2018, Arappor Iyakkam leveled charges against the former local administration minister SP Velumani and a private engineering firm stating that there were irregularities in awarding tenders to the private firm for implementing projects in the Chennai and Coimbatore corporations.

The Arappor Iyakkam had also lodged a complaint with the DVAC which led to filing cases and search operations. Therefore, the company filed defamation suits against the Arappor Iyakkam seeking damages to the tune of Rs 3 crore for propagating against the company on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.

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