A Raja, 2 Other DMK Leaders Booked Over 'Derogatory' Remarks Against TN CM Vijay

Tamil Nadu Police have booked three DMK leaders including senior leader A Raja and PK Sekar Babu over allegedly derogatory remarks against Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay and cabinet minister CTR Nirmal Kumar, Hindustan Times reported on Tuesday quoting officials.

Kallakurichi police have filed a similar case against DMK MLA Vasantham Karthikeyan over comments allegedly directed at the chief minister.

The remarks were made during statewide protests organised by the DMK on September 12. Videos featuring Raja, Sekar Babu and Karthikeyan circulated widely on social media and drew responses from political leaders, including DMK MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi.

Police booked Raja under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) provisions concerning defamatory remarks intended to disturb peace, incitement between groups, obscene language and disruption of public order.

“We have registered a case. We cannot tell any more than this,” a senior police officer told Hindustan Times on condition of anonymity.

A senior North Chennai police officer told HT that the FIRs against Sekar Babu invoked BNS sections 296, 352, 196(1), 353(1), 352(2) and 351(2). The provisions relate to the use of obscene words in public, intentional insult, promoting enmity, spreading false information, disturbing public peace and criminal intimidation.

Asked about the case, Raja told reporters, “Is this a question? If a lawsuit is filed, we just have to face it.”

The DMK accused the TVK government of targeting Opposition leaders while failing to answer questions about crime, custodial deaths and attacks on women.

“As an opposition party, we have the right to criticise, attack the ruling party for their mistakes. But this government is only working against the DMK people when our Leader of Opposition (Udhayanidhi Stalin) has asked that so many crimes have happened, so many custodial deaths have happened, so many attacks on women were made. They (TVK government) did not have any answer,” DMK spokesperson TKS Elangovan said.

Elangovan also accused the government of failing to act against people responsible for serious crimes while pursuing cases against DMK leaders. Hindustan Times reported.

“They will continue to attack the DMK. So, whatever LoP spoke in the assembly, they have no answer, and they have not arrested anybody or filed a case against anybody to ensure that criminals are punished. But they will file case against Raja, and they have also filed cases against LoP and they will do all those things,” he said.

The latest cases follow police action against several DMK leaders. Opposition leader Udhayanidhi Stalin was arrested on August 4 over an alleged double-meaning remark and later released on bail. Former minister Anitha R Radhakrishnan and MLA GV Markandayan were also arrested over alleged remarks against Chief Minister Vijay. The DMK has called the actions political retaliation.