New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued a notice to Tamil Nadu chief minister J. Jayalalithaa in an appeal against a criminal defamation case filed by the state government. A bench comprising justices Dipak Misra and C. Nagappan criticised the chief minister for using criminal defamation as a tool for evading criticism. The same bench, on previous occasions, has noted that the Tamil Nadu government has been using criminal defamation to stifle dissent and criticism. In the current case, a criminal defamation case was filed against actor-politician Vijayakanth of the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam. The law was challenged by Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member Subramanian Swamy, journalist Rajdeep Sardesai and others.

Source: Mint August 24, 2016 09:00 UTC