Kodanadu Estate Case: Madras HC grants relief to Tamil Nadu CM E Palaniswami after court hours

In a big relief to Tamil Nadu’s Chief Minister E Palaniswami, the Madras High Court on Wednesday passed an interim order restraining Narada News Editor, Mathew Samuel and other journalists of Narada News from making further statements alleging the involvement of Palaniswami in the 2017 Kodanadu Estate break-in and murder case..Justice K Kalyanasundaram passed the interim order on Wednesday evening after regular Court hours after hearing arguments made for Chief Minister Palaniswami by senior counsel Satish Parasaran. Mentioning was made for an urgent hearing in the case earlier in the day. The Court has also issued notice in the matter..The defamation suit filed by Palaniswami seeks damages to the tune of Rs 1.10 crores from Samuel, the other Narada journalists and two accused in the Kodanadu case for false and derogatory statements made in a video uploaded on January 11..In the video, Chief Minister Palaniswami is alleged to have played a role in the 2017 Kodanadu Estate break in and the deaths which followed..In the controversial video, Palaniswami is reportedly accused of having orchestrated the break in, allegedly to recover certain documents. He is also accused of having a role to play in the deaths that followed. Strongly denying these allegations, Palaniswami’s defamation plaint states,.“To spoil my name and credibility and also that of my Party, efforts are undertaken, to stigmatise and cause disrepute to me and the Part. In one such attempt, the defendants, acting in concert and clearly with an intention to defame my name and reputation, making false accusations about me, to malign my character and reputation. In furtherance of their objective have released a video running to 16.10 minutes on the Youtube on 11.02.2019.“.In April 2017, ten persons broke into the Kodanadu estate at Nilgiris, which was previously occupied by late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa. One guard at the estate was found dead, while another was assaulted and sedated..Days after the break in, two of the accused met with life-threatening accidents. One, Kanakaraj, died owing to a bike accident. Another, Sayan, survived a car accident. However, his wife and child who were with him at the time of the accident succumbed to their injuries. A few months later, in July 2017, an estate manager at Kodanadu, Dinesh, was also found dead. He apparently committed suicide..Sayan and another accused, Valayar Manoj, are also reported to have alleged that Palaniswami was involved in the Kodanadu break in case in Samuel’s video..Image taken from here..Read the Petition: