Madras High Court quashes defamation case against Tamil Nadu Speaker M Appavu

The Madras High Court on Friday quashed the criminal defamation proceedings initiated against Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Speaker M Appavu following a complaint filed by All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) Spokesperson Babu Murugavel.

Justice G Jayachandran held that Murugavel did not have the authority to file the private complaint on behalf of the AIADMK, accusing Appavu of having defamed the party through his public statements.

Murugavel had registered a private complaint against Appavu claiming that a speech made by the latter at a book release event held in Chennai on November 21, 2023 was defamatory towards AIADMK.

In his private complaint before a special court in July this year, Murugavel had said that Appavu defamed the AIADMK by making “fictitious” claims, including a statement that around 40 AIADMK lawmakers were ready to join the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) after Jayalalithaa’s death in 2016. The Speaker had also allegedly said that a prominent AIADMK leader had contacted him to facilitate the shifting of loyalties.

Appavu approached the Madras High Court on October 15 challenging the maintainability of Murugavel’s complaint.

As per his plea, when defamation of a political party is alleged, “only persons at the helm of affairs of the party” can file a complaint.

Appavu told the Court that Murugavel was neither the President nor the General Secretary of the Party and therefore, he had no locus to file the defamation complaint.

Senior Advocate P Wilson and Advocate Richardson Wilson appeared for Appavu.