TN minister Aadhav Arjuna seeks Rs 1 crore damages from DMK chief
The Madras High Court on Friday ordered notice to former DMK president MK Stalin on a petition filed by Tamil Nadu PWD Minister Aadhav Arjuna, seeking Rs 1 crore as damages/compensation for making defamatory statements against him.
Justice K Govindarajan Thilakavadi also ordered notice to the DMK Information Technology wing and posted it to September 15, for further hearing of the application arising out of a suit filed by Arjuna, which also sought to restrain Stalin and the DMK IT wing from publishing any similar false and defamatory statements concerning him.
In his application, the TVK leader submitted that the present suit was filed against Stalin and the DMK IT wing for publishing a false, malicious and defamatory imputation against him through the official social media account of the DMK Information Technology Wing on the social media platform ‘X’, bearing the handle @DMKITwing, on June 8, 2026. The said publication has caused incalculable and grievous injury to the reputation, dignity, credibility and the public standing of the plaintiff.
Arjuna submitted that the impugned publication was not an isolated or unauthorised act of a mere social media functionary but was published pursuant to the plan, directions, instructions and approval of Stalin, who exercises control, supervision and overarching authority over the affairs of the party, including its IT wing.
Stalin was therefore responsible for, and accountable in respect of, the publication and dissemination of the impugned post, and the DMK IT wing was directly responsible as the official operator and manager of the said X account through which the impugned post was published, he added.
He submitted that impugned statement was wholly false, fabricated, malicious and devoid of any factual basis whatsoever. An individual referred to in the Enforcement Directorate proceedings was not a relative, much less a close relative, of the plaintiff. The allegation has been published without any verification, without any supporting material, and in complete disregard of the truth, he added.
He said a person has lodged a formal complaint before the Commissioner of Police, Chennai, specifically stating that he was not the one being referred to in the context of the ED. Consequently, any attempt to portray the said individual as a relative of the Plaintiff (Arujna), without undertaking even the most elementary verification, was manifestly reckless, grossly irresponsible and mala fide.
Stalin and DMK IT wing conduct in publishing the impugned statement as a verified and “shocking truth” in complete ignorance of or willful disregard for the said complaint evidences a deliberate and calculated intention to defame him, he added.
