Madras HC quashes criminal case against ex-minister D Jayakumar

CHENNAI: Considering the political status of former minister D Jayakumar, the Madras High Court quashed a criminal case booked against him for the alleged objectionable remarks against the Chief Minister of the State.

Justice G Jayachandran heard the petition moved by D Jayakumar seeking to quash the criminal case filed against him by Tiruchy Cantonment police for the alleged offence of raising objectionable slogans against Chief Minister MK Stalin and his government.

Senior counsel M Arvind Subramaniam represented the former minister and submitted the affidavit sworn by D Jayakumar stating that it was an unfortunate incident and expressed regret for the incident, as it was not intentional. The counsel submitted that since his client is a senior leader of AIADMK his supporters spontaneously gathered before the Tiruchy Cantonment police station after knowing that he was appearing there.

It was not a planned gathering orchestrated by his client and he did not raise any objectionable slogans against the Chief Minister, said the counsel.

However, the additional public prosecutor KMD Muhilan objected to the regret affidavit as it only talked about the slogans raised against the police department and remained silent on the slogans raised against the Chief Minister and his government.

Countering, D Jayakumar’s counsel submitted that the affidavit was filed to express regret for the entire incident. After recording this, the judge observed that considering the subsequent conduct and political status of the petitioner this court quashed the criminal case against D Jayakumar by allowing his petition.

On March 3, 2022, the High Court granted bail to D Jayakumar in a case of assaulting a DMK cadre alleging that he tried to cast a bogus vote in a local body election, on a condition to appear before Tiruchy Cantonment police station on alternative days for two weeks.

Complying with the Court’s direction D Jayakumar went to Trichy Cantonment police station with more than 100 supporters and it was alleged that they all raised slogans against the CM, government and police department. Hence the police registered a case against Jayakumar on the alleged offences including, the use of abusive language, unlawful gathering and breaching COVID-19 norms and regulations.