MHC dimisses "Madurai Veeran Unmai Varalaru" author's plea to lift ban

CHENNAI: A special, larger judge bench of the Madras High Court (MHC) on Friday dismissed the writ petition filed by the author of the banned book 'Madurai Veeran Unmai Varalaru'.

The author, Kulandairaj, of the book Madurai Veeran Unmai Varalaru, which depicts the valor of Madurai Veeran, a rural icon, moved the MHC to quash the ban imposed on his book.

The larger bench, comprising Justice D Krishna Kumar, Justice C V Karthikeyan, and Justice P Dhanabal dismissed his petition as it is not maintainable and directed him to approach the forum concerned in accordance with the law.

The book released in 2013 was banned by the Tamil Nadu government, which seized all the published books as certain portions of the book would cause public unrest, disharmony, and enmity between groups.

However, in 2017, the author moved the MHC and contended that he was not intimated regarding the ban order; hence, the petition was filed belatedly. Section 96 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) requires that any person challenging an order of forfeiture shall file the petition within two months as provided under section 95 of CrPC, and argued that he was not informed about the ban.

The single judge directed the registry to place the matter before the Chief Justice as section 96 (2) of CrPC requires the matter to be heard by a larger bench.

The Chief Justice constituted a larger bench comprising Justice D Krishna Kumar, Justice C V Karthikeyan, and Justice P Dhanabal.

The counsel appeared for the author contended that the book has not caused any disharmony in the society or enmity between any groups.

The State side counsel contended that this writ petition is not maintainable under Article 226 of the Constitution.