Madras HC serves notice on Edappadi over defamation case filed by DMK

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court directed the Leader of the Opposition and AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) to file a response to a defamation suit claiming Rs 1 crore filed by the DMK.

After perusing the defamation suit, Justice RMT Teekaa Raman directed EPS to file a counter and posted the matter after one week for further submissions.

The defamation suit was filed by DMK organising secretary RS Bharathi alleged that in order to avenge continuous political loss at the hands of the ruling party, EPS is defaming the party (DMK) with baseless allegations to tarnish its public image.

It was submitted that EPS on his official X handle published several posts alleging that law and order has completely broken down in the State, it has become a drug capital and its future generations are being destroyed. Similarly, he published a post stating that the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister were closely associated with the alleged international drug kingpin Jaffer Sadiq.

The plaintiff denied all the allegations and submitted that in no way Jaffer Sadiq was connected with their party nor have any links to his alleged actions.

Furthermore, he was removed from his post as Chennai west deputy coordinator post of DMK much prior to his arrest, said the plaintiff.

After the demise of late CM J Jayalalithaa, AIADMK led by EPS lost its strong foothold in the State, the petitioner said. Having suffered repeated electoral losses at the hands of DMK, EPS has published the defamatory posts, which is a mere extension of their political malice, RS Bharathi claimed.

The plaintiff sought the court to direct the defendant to delete all the defamatory X handle posts and permanently bar him from connecting Jaffer Sadiq with DMK.

He also demanded EPS to pay Rs 1.1 crore for the alleged damages caused by his posts.