Supreme Court stays Madras HC order that had restored defamation proceedings against EPS

The Supreme Court provided relief to AIADMK party general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami by staying a Madras High Court order, which had restored defamation proceedings initiated against him

The Supreme Court on January 19 provided relief to AIADMK party general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami by staying a Madras High Court order, which had restored defamation proceedings initiated against him by expelled AIADMK leader and former MP K.C. PalanisamI.

A Bench of Justices B.R. Gavai and Sandeep Mehta ordered an ad-interim stay of the High Court order of November 28 last year.

The High Court had set aside a Chennai court order, passed in August 2023, dismissing the defamation complaint filed by Mr. PalaniswamI against the former Chief Minister.

Appearing for Mr. Palaniswami, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi and advocate Balaji Srinivasan, argued that the High Court erred in not considering the fact that a defamatory statement ought to be published for being actionable under Sections 499 and 500 (criminal defamation) of the Indian Penal Code.

Mr. Rohatgi said the alleged remarks were supposed to have been articulated during arbitration proceedings initiated by the AIADMK party against Mr. Palanisamy under Section 9 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act.

“The Act explicitly prohibits the publication of arbitral proceedings and mandates the maintenance of confidentiality with limited exceptions. Pleadings in arbitration proceedings are of a confidential nature and cannot be publicly disclosed,” Mr. Palaniswami ‘s petition argued.

Besides, it said the assertions reflect the “official position” of the party itself about the expulsion of Mr. PalanisamI.