Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker, M Appavu, has approached the Madras High Court seeking to quash a defamation complaint lodged against him by an AIADMK party leader. The complaint, currently pending before a special court for MPs and MLAs, was brought to light during a hearing presided over by Justice G Jayachandran, who has scheduled the next hearing for October 22.
The defamation claim was initiated by Babu Murugavel, Joint Secretary of the AIADMK advocates wing, who alleges that on November 21, 2023, Appavu made disparaging remarks about the AIADMK, suggesting that 40 of its MLAs were poised to defect to the DMK following the death of former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa in 2016.
In his petition, Speaker Appavu argued that the accusation was politically motivated, legally unsound, and inherently improbable. He emphasized that the complaint lacked legal standing as Murugavel had not demonstrated any authorization from AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami to file the suit. According to Appavu, this absence of authorization should be sufficient grounds for dismissal, citing precedents that only key party officials are eligible to file defamation claims on behalf of a political party.
Appavu’s legal team contended that the current case against him should be dismissed, as Murugavel does not hold a senior enough position within the AIADMK to initiate such proceedings without explicit party endorsement.
