Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami has filed a defamation plaint against journalist Mathew Samuel and others for their comments against him in connection with the Kodanadu murder and robbery case. The plea in the Madras High Court by advocate Satish Parasaran on behalf of the CM wanted a direction from the court to restrain media houses from publishing news articles based on Samuel’s statements or interviews.Palaniswami sought Rs 1.10 crore as compensation from Mathew Samuel, for making allegations linking him to the Kodanadu case.
The court, which accepted the petition, restrained Samuel and others from talking to the media on their allegations against Palaniswami. The HC also restrained them from using a video report, which was produced by Samuel, in which the robbery accused were seen making the allegations. Eariler this month, Mathew had released a video in which KV Sayan and Valayar Manoj, the two accused in the case, claimed Palaniswami was linked to the incident. However, the Chief Minister denied any links with the robbery attempt.
After Mathew released the video, DMK president MK Stalin called on Governor Banwarilal Purohit and urged him to take action against Palaniswami. “Appropriate legal action must be taken against Palaniswami in the wake of the documentary evidence released by journalist Mathew Samuel. The Chief Minister should step aside to allow a free and fair probe. We demand a special investigative team led by an inspector general rank police officer," Stalin said.
