Plea in Madras High Court to book BJP national secretary H Raja over defamatory statement against Periyar

CHENNAI: A petition has been filed in the High Court for a directive to Kandamangalam cops in Villupuram to file a case against BJP national secretary H Raja for his alleged defamatory statement against E V Ramasamy (Periyar).

Justice M S Ramesh, before whom the plea from Jayaratchagan, the Villupuram coordinator of Dravidar Viduthalai Kazhagam, came up for hearing, directed the government lawyer to obtain instructions by March 20.

According to petitioner, Raja has been continuously attacking social reformer Periyar with abusive language and also Dravidian party and its members. He posted a statement on his Facebook page on March 6 last to the effect that statues of Periyar would be pulled down. He also described Periyar as a caste fanatic. This resulted in two men vandalising a statue of Periyar at Tirupattur in Vellore district. The unwarranted statement posted by Raja had created unrest all over TN.

Petitioner lodged a complaint with Kandamangalam Police on March 6 last to take action against Raja. But the local police did not take any action. Hence, he approached the SP on March 8 with another complaint on the lethargic attitude of  Kandamangalam Police. As the official also did not consider his plaint, he preferred the present petition for a directive to Police to register a case and conduct probe under the supervision of the SP.