MHC reserves orders in a plea to quash the ban imposed on 'Madurai Veeran Unmai Varalaru'

CHENNAI: A special larger judge bench of the Madras High Court (MHC) has reserved the final orders in a plea to quash the ban imposed on the book 'Madurai Veeran Unmai Varalaru', which depicts the valor of Madurai Veeran, a rural icon.

The author, Kulandairaj, of the book Madurai Veeran Unmai Varalaru, moved the MHC to quash the ban imposed on his book.

A larger bench comprising Justice D Krishna Kumar, Justice C V Karthikeyan, and Justice P Dhanabal, observed that the petitioner is entitled to appeal against the ban and reserved the final orders without mentioning the date, after hearing all the arguments.

The book released in 2013, was banned by the Tamil Nadu government and 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 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.