The Chennai City Public Prosecutor has filed a criminal defamation complaint against BJP Tamil Nadu president K. Annamalai before the Principal District and Sessions Court here for having made defamatory allegations against Chief Minister M.K. Stalin at a press conference on April 14.
The complaint was filed under Section 199(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which empowers the public prosecutor to do so for offences committed against public servants.
The Public Department had issued a government order on May 6, according sanction to him under Section 199(4) of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
In his petition, the City Public Prosecutor said he went through the video clippings of the press conference and perused the address by Mr. Annamalai and was fully satisfied that the statements made by him were not only defamatory but also had a direct nexus with the discharge of official duties by the Chief Minister.
Asserting that all allegations were patently false, the City Public Prosecutor said they had been levelled with the intention of harming the reputation of the Chief Minister, who had introduced many path-breaking welfare schemes such as free breakfast for government schoolchildren and free travel for women in government buses.
Pursuant to the press conference, the video clippings were shared widely on the social media and some television channels conducted debates on the issue, thereby causing a considerable harm to the Chief Minister’s reputation, the City Public Prosecutor complained.
