The Supreme Court on January 19 provided relief to AIADMK party general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami by staying a Madras High Court order, which had restored defamation proceedings initiated against him by expelled AIADMK leader and former MP K.C. PalanisamI.
A Bench of Justices B.R. Gavai and Sandeep Mehta ordered an ad-interim stay of the High Court order of November 28 last year.
The High Court had set aside a Chennai court order, passed in August 2023, dismissing the defamation complaint filed by Mr. PalaniswamI against the former Chief Minister.
Appearing for Mr. Palaniswami, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi and advocate Balaji Srinivasan, argued that the High Court erred in not considering the fact that a defamatory statement ought to be published for being actionable under Sections 499 and 500 (criminal defamation) of the Indian Penal Code.
Mr. Rohatgi said the alleged remarks were supposed to have been articulated during arbitration proceedings initiated by the AIADMK party against Mr. Palanisamy under Section 9 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act.
“The Act explicitly prohibits the publication of arbitral proceedings and mandates the maintenance of confidentiality with limited exceptions. Pleadings in arbitration proceedings are of a confidential nature and cannot be publicly disclosed,” Mr. Palaniswami ‘s petition argued.
Besides, it said the assertions reflect the “official position” of the party itself about the expulsion of Mr. PalanisamI.
“How can a defamation complaint be filed against my client personally… how can it be construed as an individual’s comment aimed at tarnishing the reputation of a specific person?” Mr. Rohatgi contended.
The petition submitted that the High Court wrongly concluded that the arbitration proceedings were instigated by the party against Mr. Palanisami solely due to political rivalry.
“It failed to acknowledge that the initiation of these proceedings by the AIADMK party was promoted by the respondent’s [Mr Palanisami] operation of a website using the party name as its domain name… The domain name was deceptively similar to the official website of the party with a clear intent to cause confusion among party followers,” the petition noted.
Mr. Rohatgi said the High Court had overlooked the “history” of Mr. Palanisami’s expulsion and rejoining of the AIADMK party since 1996. The latest exit was in March 2018.
“The defamation complaint was yet another strategic manoeuvre by the respondent to exert pressure on the petitioner [Mr. Palaniswami], who is the general secretary of the AIADMK, with an apparent aim to secure re-entry into the party’s ranks,” the petition said.
It said the respondent had failed to furnish documentary evidence or produce witnesses to support his defamation allegation.
“He has thus fallen short of establishing either the publication of the imputations or demonstrating that such remarks have diminished him in the estimation of the right-thinking members,” the petition said.
