The Madras High Court on Friday (04 April 2025) quashed the case against The Commune, nearly two years after it was filed over alleged defamatory articles regarding the Aani Thirumanjanam festival at Chidambaram’s Nataraja Temple.
The Commune and its directors faced legal action for reporting on the confrontation between Podu Deekshitars of the Chidambaram Nataraja Temple and HR&CE officials.
The FIR, registered in July 2023 by the Chidambaram Town police, was based on a complaint from a Village Administrative Officer (VAO) Sheikh Sirajuddin. He had mentioned that he noticed two people at a bus stand discussing about The Commune’s report. He had accused The Commune of attempting to incite law and order issues by publishing reports that alleged harassment of Dikshithars—hereditary priests and custodians of the temple—by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department and police. The reports had claimed that HR&CE officials had manhandled the priests and resulting in the desecration of their religious markings.
Following the publication of The Commune’s article, Chidambaram Town police issued a summons to its directors which includes BJP Tamil Nadu State Secretary SG Suryah. The Madras High Court later granted anticipatory bail to both the directors.
After nearly two years of legal proceedings, the Madras High Court today ruled in favor of The Commune, dismissing the case against the publication and its directors. The petition to quash the proceedings had been filed by Kaushik Subramanian, Director of The Commune. The publication was represented by counsels Nithyaesh Nataraj and Anirudh A. Sriram.
During the proceedings, Nithyaesh argued that the allegations cited in The Commune’s report had also been extensively covered by mainstream media outlets such as Thanthi TV, News18, Sun News, and The Hindu. He further pointed out that the Dikshitars themselves had filed a police complaint regarding the same allegations.
“Why is the Village Administrative Officer first of all sitting in a bus stand? Why is he sitting in a bus stand and noticing what other people are saying?“, asked Advocate Nithyaesh.
After hearing the arguments, Justice G.K. Ilanthiraiyan quashed the case and noted that detailed orders will be passed on a later date.
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