Defamation suits against Chennai NGO stayed

CHENNAI:  In a huge relief to Arappor Iyakkam, a city-based NGO, the Madras High Court, Tuesday, stayed further proceedings of three defamation cases filed against it by former minister SP Velumani’s close aides who demanded Rs 3 crore in damages claiming corruption allegations levelled were false. 

A division bench of Justice M Duraiswamy and Justice Sunder Mohan passed the interim order while admitting three appeals moved by the NGO against KCP Infra Limited, R Chandrasekar and KCP Engineers Pvt Ltd.

Arappor Iyakkam argued that three separate suits for damages were filed against it by the trio, allegedly aggrieved over a social media post by the NGO levelling corruption charges against them and former local administration minister SP Velumani. Though the trio had filed separate suits for damages for the same issue with reference to a press meet conducted by the NGO on September 12, 2018, they have suppressed the facts and filed the fresh suits for the same issue posted on social media, the NGO said.

“As per Entry 25 of the Schedule in the Limitation Act, a suit for libel must be instituted within one year from the date of publication. The social media posts were uploaded in 2018 and hence, the limitation for filing these suits ended in 2019. However, they were filed in 2021, two years after the limitation ended,” counsel for NGO, V Suresh, said.