Chennai, Oct 30:
The Madras High Court has sought the Tamil Nadu government’s response to an anticipatory bail petition filed by Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) functionary and YouTuber ‘Saattai’ Durai Murugan in a case relating to a video allegedly containing defamatory remarks against Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay and Minister Aadhav Arjuna.
The petition came up before Justice N Ramesh on Thursday. Durai Murugan approached the court apprehending arrest in the case registered by the Chennai Cyber Crime Wing.
The case originated from a complaint lodged by A Christopher, a TVK functionary and fisherman from Tondiarpet, on October 3. He alleged that Durai Murugan had uploaded a video on his YouTube channel on September 30 containing derogatory remarks against the Chief Minister and Aadhav Arjuna.
In his anticipatory bail petition, Durai Murugan denied the allegations and described the complaint as politically motivated. He contended that the video contained political criticism made in the interest of the public and that the criminal case was an attempt to curb his freedom of speech and expression.
He also argued that he had already appeared for police inquiry, that custodial interrogation was unnecessary and that he was prepared to cooperate with the investigation whenever required.
The NTK functionary further questioned the complainant’s locus standi and alleged that the case was intended to force the removal of the video from social media platforms.
The court sought the government’s response to the petition.