Madurai, Oct 6:
The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Monday refused to grant interim protection from arrest to former BJP state vice-president Karuppu Muruganandam, who has sought anticipatory bail in a case registered based on a complaint by a Bengaluru-based woman alleging that he uploaded morphed photographs and videos of her on social media.
In his anticipatory bail petition, Muruganandam denied the allegations made by Divya Seshadri of Bengaluru in a complaint lodged at the Tiruchy police commissioner’s office on September 24. She had alleged that she was in a close relationship with Muruganandam and accused him of uploading morphed photographs and videos with an intention to defame her on social media and of cheating her.
Based on the complaint, police registered a case against Muruganandam. In his petition, he claimed that Divya Seshadri was living separately from her husband, had sought his help and had expressed an interest in joining a political party. He said she was introduced to him and that he had extended various forms of assistance to her.
When the matter came up for hearing, counsel for Muruganandam sought anticipatory bail, while counsel for Divya Seshadri opposed the plea and sought to implead her as a respondent.
The court refused to grant interim protection from arrest and directed the police and Divya Seshadri to file their respective counter-affidavits. The case was then adjourned to Friday.