The Madras High Court dismissed a defamation suit filed by a former minister seeking Rs. 1.1 crore compensation and an injunction against a Tamil magazine. The court held that the plaintiff failed to prove the articles were false and rejected the claim because the defendant had already tendered an unconditional apology.
Suit dismissed with no costs.
This page shows the compact analysis of this judgement. The full analysis — procedural history, issue-by-issue holdings with ratio and obiter, advocates, and paragraph-level evidence for every claim — is being added to the record in batches and will appear here when this judgement has been through it.
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
(ORDINARY ORIGINAL CIVIL JURISDICTION)
MONDAY THE 28th DAY OF MARCH 2022
THE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE P.VELMURUGAN
C.S. No.100 of 2019
O.S.Manian (M/64) S/o. Somuthevar Presently residing at NB36, Pothigai Valagam, Greenways Road, Chennai 600 028.
Permanently residing at: No.5/54, Kaarai Vaikkaal Nallar Road, Oradiyampulam Thalanayar III Sethi, Vedaranyam Taluk, Nagapattinam District Nagapattinam 614 712. : Plaintiffs Vs
Naveena Netrikkan Tamil Weekly Magazine Rep.by its Proprietor, Editor & Publisher A.S.Mani, Having office at No.91, Vaigundapuram, 1st Street, Nungambakkam, Chennai 600 034. : Defendant Civil Suit praying that this Hon'ble Court be pleased to pass a judgment and decree in his favour and against the defendant:-
a) Directing the Defendant herein to pay the plaintiff a sum of Rs.1,10,00,000/- towards compensatory damages suffered by the Plaintiff
due to the highly immoral, unethical, scandalous, malicious and defamatory
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statements as against the plaintiff and his family members in Defendant's
magazine and posters by the defendant in the editions dated 31.08.2018, 09.09.2018 and 01.02.2019 published on 24.08.2018, 31.08.2018 and 25.01.2019;
b) Grant a Permanent Injunction restraining the defendant, his men, agents and representatives from in any manner publishing in any of issues of the magazines, or in any press, media, posters, etc., making defamatory articles/statements as against the plaintiff;
c) Direct the defendant to pay the entire costs of the above suit.
This Suit having been heard on 17.03.2022 in the presence of Mr.S.Kumara Devan, Advocate for the plaintiff herein and the defendant herein not appeared in person or by advocate and the said defendant herein having been set exparte and upon reading the plaint filed herein and upon perusing the evidence adduced therein and the other exhibits therein referred to and having stood over for consideration till this date and coming on this date before this Court for orders in the presence of the said advocate and this court having opined that the Court cannot mechanically issue mere direction and this Court finds that as the defendant has tendered unconditional apology in Application No.7905 of 2019, and the same was
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closed, Plaintiff is not entitled to claim the compensation and it is settled
proposition of law that even though the defendant has not filed written statement and he has not come to the box and also has not cross examined the Plaintiff, as the Plaintiff has to prove his case, he cannot take advantage
relatives enquired about the articles, since he has not established through any of the witnesses that the statement of articles published in the magazine is false, and therefore, the Plaintiff is not entitled to get the relief as sought for, and
it is ordered as follows:-
That the suit in C.S.No.100 of 2019, be and is hereby dismissed.
WITNESS THE HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE MUNISHWAR NATH BHANDARI CHIEF JUSTICE, HIGH COURT AT MADRAS AFORESAID, THIS THE 28th DAY OF MARCH 2022.
Sd./-
ASSISTANT REGISTRAR (O.S-I) //Certified to be true copy// Dated at Madras this the day of 2022.
COURT OFFICER(O.S.) From 25th Day of September 2008 the Registry is issuing certified copies of the Orders/Judgments/Decrees in this format.
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KY 18.04.2022
C.S. No.100 of 2019
ORDER DATED : 28.03.2022
THE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE P.VELMURUGAN FOR APPROVAL: 21.04.2022 APPROVED ON: 21.04.2022
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
Reserved on Delivered on 17.03.2022 28.03.2022
CORAM
THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE P.VELMURUGAN
C.S.No.100 of 2019
O.S.Manian
... Plaintiff
Vs
Naveena Netrikkan Tamil weekly Magazine, Rep., by its Proprietor, Editor & Publisher A.S.Mani, having office at No.91, Vaigundapuram, 1st Street, Nungambakkam, Chennai – 600 034.
... Defendant
Prayer:Suit is filed under Order IV Rule 1 of O.S.Rules R/W. Order
VII Rule 1 of CPC a) directing the defendant herein to pay the plaintiff a
sum of Rs.1,10,00,000/- towards compensatory damages suffered by the Plaintiff due to the highly immoral, unethical, scandalous, malicious and defamatory statements as against the plaintiff and his family members in Defendant's magazine and posters by the defendant in the editions dated 31.08.2018, 09.09.2018 and 01.02.2019 published on 24.08.2018,
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31.08.2018 and 25.01.2019; b) grant a permanent injunction restraining the
defendant, his men, agents and representatives from in any manner publishing in any of issues of the magazines, or in any press, media, posters, etc., making defamatory articles/statements as against the plaintiff; and (c) direct the defendant to pay the entire costs of the above suit.
For Plaintiff : Mr.S.Kumara Devan For Defendant : No Appearance Set Ex-parte
JUDGMENT
Civil Suit No.100 of 2019 is filed under Order IV Rule 1 of
O.S.Rules R/W Order VII Rule 1 CPC by the plaintiff to
(a) direct the defendant to pay the Plaintiff a sum of Rs.1,10,00,000/towards compensatory damages suffered by him due to the highly immoral, unethical, scandalous, malicious and defamatory statements as against the plaintiff and his family members;
(b) grant a permanent injunction restraining the defendant, his men, agents
and representatives from in any manner publishing in any of issues of the magazines, or in any press, media, posters, etc., making defamatory
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articles/statements as against the Plaintiff; and
(c) direct the defendant to pay the entire costs of the above suit.
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articles in the magazine stating that the Plaintiff and his family members were involved in the murder of one Ramesh Babu. Further the Plaintiff has stated that on 25.01.2019 and 01.02.2019, again the defendant has published the defamatory articles in the Magazine relating to murder of Ramesh Babu and the other issues with an intention to tarnish his image. Therefore, the Plaintiff has filed the present suit for the relief stated above.
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forum for relief. The learned counsel submitted that in this case, nobody had file any petition against the investigation of the case before the concerned authority, however the defendant penned the said article without verifying with the Plaintiff or his counsel.
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veracity of the same with the Plaintiff, he has convinced them by stating that
in a public life anybody can accuse any one like him, who is holding a high position and they should neglect the same and therefore, the Plaintiff had not send any legal notice to the defendant. The learned counsel further submitted that the defendant by way of article made reckless disregard of the truth, misleading and false, which caused serious harm to the name and reputation of the Plaintiff. Further, it is submitted that news report has caused extensive damage to the Plaintiff's name and reputation with an intention to spoil his political career and his avowed object of serving the masses through the democratic system of the country. Therefore, the learned counsel submitted that the Plaintiff is entitled to claim a sum of Rs.1,10,00,000/- for causing immense mental agony, hardship, damage caused to the name, fame and reputation, spoiling of his political career so far developed and hence, he is liable to be compensated.
and hence, this Court set the defendant exparte and also directed the matter to be placed before the learned Master on 17.02.2022.
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affidavit and he reiterated the entire averments filed in the plaint. The five documents were marked as Exs.P1 to P5.
the materials placed on record.
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relatives etc., and the family members of the Plaintiff have read the said article and they have called the plaintiff to know the veracity of the news published and even ridiculed and humiliated the plaintiff and his family members and supporters. Therefore, the plaintiff has filed the present suit directing the defendant to pay the Plaintiff a sum of Rs.1,10,00,000/towards compensatory damages suffered by him due to the highly immoral, unethical, scandalous, malicious and defamatory statements as against the plaintiff and his family members.
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A.No.7905 of 2019 seeking to punish the respondent/defendant for violating the order of this Court in O.A.No.101 of 2019, dated 31.01.2019 and 11.04.2019. However, in the said application, the learned counsel appearing for the respondent/defendant contended that no article has been published in the magazine relating to the private life of the applicant/Plaintiff and also by filing a counter affidavit expressed unconditional apology and also issued a statement in the magazine dated 22.11.2019. This Court considering the fact that the respondent/defendant has tendered unconditional apology and he will strictly obey the orders of this Court, closed the application.
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enquired about the veracity of the articles, and the plaintiff convinced them
by stating that in a public life anybody can accuse any one holding high position like him and we should neglect the same, he did not send any legal notice against the defendant. Except marking of two articles of the magazine, none of them have been examined and therefore in the absence of any such proof to establish that the Plaintiff has stated that the relatives, friends etc have enquired about the articles and he has convinced them, it has not been established by the Plaintiff.
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the defendant has tendered unconditional apology in Application No.7905
of 2019, and the same was closed, Plaintiff is not entitled to claim the compensation.
is not entitled to get the relief as sought for and the Suit is dismissed. No costs.
Sd./-P.V.J.,
28.03.2022 List of the witnesses examined on the side of the plaintiff :
P.W.1 – O.S.Manian
List of Exhibits marked on the side of the plaintiff:
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Sl.
No.
1
| Sl. | Exhibits | Description | Dated |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | |||
| 1 | Ex.P1 | Print out copy of F.I.R Crime No.216/2018 | 28.07.2018 |
| 2 | Ex.P2 | Original Magazine of Naveena Netrikkan | 31.08.2018 |
| 3 | Ex.P3 | Original Magazine of Naveena Netrikkan | 07.09.2018 |
| 4 | Ex.P4 | Photocopy of posters | 23.01.2019 |
| 5 | Ex.P5 | Original Magazine of Naveena Netrikkan | 25.01.2019 |
Sd./-P.V.J.,
28.03.2022 //Certified to be true copy//
Dated at Madras this the day of 2022.
COURT OFFICER(O.S.) From 25th Day of September 2008 the Registry is issuing certified copies of the Orders/Judgments/Decrees in this format.
2 issues framed by the court
Whether an unconditional apology tendered by the defendant bars the plaintiff from claiming compensation for alleged defamation in absence of evidence proving the defamatory statements were false.
Whether the plaintiff's failure to adduce independent evidence proving the falsity of the published articles permits the plaintiff to claim damages via an 'exparte' setting of the defendant.
1 provisions across 1 enactments
O.S. Manian
Naveena Netrikkan Tamil Weekly Magazine (Rep. by A.S. Mani)
P. Velmurugan
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
