Nearly three decades after the telecast of journalist Nakkeeran R. Gopal’s interview with forest brigand Veerappan, the Madras High Court has upheld an order directing Sun TV Network to pay ₹10 lakh in damages to actress Sukanya for airing defamatory allegations made against her during the interview, as reported in The Hindu.
Justice K. Kumaresh Babu dismissed an appeal filed by the television network in 2015 challenging a decree passed by a Chennai city civil court in favour of the actress. The court held that the charge of malice against the television channel had been established and that the broadcaster had failed to take adequate steps to verify the allegations before telecasting them.
The case stems from a 1996 interview conducted by journalist Nakkeeran R. Gopal with Veerappan. During the interview, the forest brigand allegedly made scandalous allegations against actress Sukanya. Following the telecast, the actress filed a civil suit before the Madras High Court seeking ₹10 lakh in damages from Sun TV Network, Nakkeeran Gopal, and Veerappan.
The High Court later transferred the suit to the Chennai City Civil Court on 8 August 2011, citing pecuniary jurisdiction.
During the trial, Sun TV argued that it had no intention to defame anyone and contended that Nakkeeran Gopal had approached the channel for broadcasting the interview. The network maintained that it merely telecast the material provided to it.
However, Nakkeeran Gopal informed the court that the telecast agreement between him and the television network expressly permitted the broadcaster to edit any portion of the interview. He stated that he had handed over nearly nine hours of footage to the channel, of which only four hours were ultimately aired over eight days, with each episode running for approximately 30 minutes.
The Chennai City Civil Court, in its judgment dated April 15, 2015, decreed the suit in favour of Sukanya and directed Sun TV Network to pay ₹10 lakh as damages.
Upholding that decree, Justice Kumaresh Babu observed that the television network had reserved for itself an unrestricted right to edit, cut, delete, modify, or alter any portion of the interview, but nevertheless failed to exercise due diligence in verifying the contents before telecast.
The court also took note of the fact that after receiving a legal notice from the actress, the television network expressed regret through a Tamil magazine rather than on its own television channel where the interview had originally been broadcast.
Referring to this aspect, the judge remarked: “This itself would show malice on the part of the appellant.”
Finding no grounds to interfere with the lower court’s decree, the High Court dismissed the appeal and upheld the award of ₹10 lakh in damages to actress Sukanya.
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