Madras High Court: In an application filed by a former army personnel (applicant) , praying to grant an order of temporary injunction restraining Annamalai Digital India Private Limited (Media house) their agents, servants, employees or anyone claiming under or through them, either directly or indirectly, from making, printing, writing, posting, publishing any defamatory allegations or articles and slanderous material about the him in newsprint, electronic, digital, their website, application or any other platform, pending disposal of the suit, RMT. Teekaa Raman, J. viewed that the articles published by the Media House are indeed defamatory and assassinating the character and conduct of the applicant. Hence, the applicant has demonstrated a prima facie case, and the balance of convenience in his favour and if interim injunction is not granted, he will be put to irreparable loss. Thus, the Court issued an interim injunction restraining the Media House from making, printing, writing, posting, or publishing any defamatory allegations or slanderous material about the applicant in newsprint, electronic, digital, their website application, or any other platform until 11-11-2024.
The applicant is an ex-army personnel who served as a 9-Para SF Commando before his retirement in 2012. He opted for Voluntary Retirement Service (VRS) for personal reasons.
He submitted that during his retirement, he learnt about a non-government organization called CIB (Crime Investigation Bureau), registered under the NITI-AAYOG, Indian Trust Act, 1882. This organization focuses on helping during natural disasters such as cyclones, floods, earthquakes, etc. Being intrigued by this, the applicant filled out an application form and submitted necessary details, which were accepted. He was assigned a Unique ID and was sent a specimen ID Card. As the applicant’s food and export-import business which was commenced by him post-retirement started to thrive, he naturally attracted rivals among fellow businessmen and to damage his reputation they filed a false complaint against him with the police, accusing him of impersonating a public servant using a forged ID card of the CIB.
The applicant was arrested and incarcerated for 8 days before being released on bail. During this time, the Media House in order to defame and tarnish the applicant’s reputation have published defamatory statements in their articles and digital newspapers.
The Court viewed that the articles published by the Media House are indeed defamatory and assassinating the character and conduct of the applicant. Hence, based on the plaint averment and documents, the applicant has demonstrated a prima facie case, and the balance of convenience is in his favour and if interim injunction is not granted, he will be put to irreparable loss.
The Court issued an interim injunction restraining the Media House from making, printing, writing, posting, or publishing any defamatory allegations or slanderous material about the applicant in newsprint, electronic, digital, their website application, or any other platform until 11-11-2024.
Furthermore, the Court directed that the mandatory provisions of Order XXXIX Rule 3(a) of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (CPC) had to be complied with by the applicant, who was required to file a necessary affidavit regarding this compliance on that date.
The Court also directed the Media house to remove and delete the defamatory article published against the applicant and to report compliance to this Court on 11-11-2024.
The matter will next be taken up on 11-11-02024.
[Karthick Santhanadurai v. Annamalai Digital India Pvt Ltd, 2024 SCC OnLine Mad 5899, decided on 22-10-2024]
Advocates who appeared in this case:
For Petitioners: Advocate A. Karthikeyan, Advocate Ujjwal Jain, Advocate D.N. Vijayashankari