The Madras High Court on Friday directed AIADMK general secretary and Leader of the Opposition Edappadi K. Palaniswami to come to the High Court premises on January 30 and 31 to give evidence in a defamation suit filed by him against journalist Mathew Samuel.
Justices R. Mahadevan and Mohammed Shaffiq issued the direction after his counsel S.R. Rajagopal told the court his client was a law abiding citizen and was willing to appear before the Master court, inside the High Court buildings, to give evidence.
The counsel urged the court to fix a date after Pongal and the ensuing Legislative Assembly session for the appearance of his client. The judges recorded the submission and disposed of an appeal filed by the journalist against an order passed by a single judge of the High Court.
The single judge had allowed an application filed by Mr. Palaniswami and appointed an advocate commissioner to record his evidence at his official residence in Chennai. The order was passed on November 7, 2023 since the applicant feared his presence in the High Court may cause disturbance to other litigants.
However, challenging the single judge’s order, senior counsel N.R. Elango, assisted by S. Manuraj, contended the plaintiff had dragged their client to court by filing the suit but was now shying away from appearing before the Master to give evidence.
During the previous hearing of the appeal, Justice Mahadevan had wondered why the plaintiff alone should be exempted from appearing before the court when all were considered equal before law. The senior judge had asked the counsel to advise his client appropriately.
