HC tells author of banned book to reply to writ plea

CHENNAI: A special larger judge bench of the Madras High Court (MHC) has directed the author of a banned book ‘Madurai Veeran Unmai Varalaru’ to respond that his writ petition to quash the ban is maintainable under law.

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

The Chief Justice constituted a larger bench comprising Justice D Krishna Kumar, Justice CV Karthikeyan and Justice P Dhanabal after a single judge’s directions.

The book released in 2013 was banned by the Tamil Nadu government as certain portions would cause public unrest, disharmony and enmity between groups. The counsel appearing for the author contended that the book has not caused any disharmony as feared. The state counsel contended that this writ petition is not maintainable under Article 226 of the Constitution.

The larger bench posted it to November 22 for further hearing.