Summons Issued to Gopal

CHENNAI: Principal Sessions Judge P Kalaiarasan on Wednesday issued summons to Nakkheeran editor RR Gopal and his associates requiring them to appear before him on March 1 in connection with a criminal complaint filed on behalf of Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.On behalf of Jayalalithaa, City Public Prosecutor ML Jagan had filed the complaint against Gopal, joint editor A Kamaraj and reporter Umarmukhat to punish them under Sections 500 and 501 of the IPC for publishing a defamatory and derogatory article against the CM in the issued dated January 7, last.The complaint said that the CM was held in high esteem by all sections of the people.      The statement was utterly false and false to the knowledge of the accused persons. No such discussion or conversation, as reported in the biweekly, ever took place and the whole narration of events, especially in the impugned passage was but a figment of imagination of its author. It had been attributed to the CM only in an endeavour to malign her reputation and lower her esteem in the minds of the general public, the complaint said.  The PSJ had also issued summons to The Hindu editor-in-chief, printer and publisher N Ram and author B Kolappan for re-publishing  the same contents in its issue dated January 8 last. They were to appear before the PSJ on March 5. The offence of defamation was committed not only in respect of original publication of defamatory matters, but also in every repetition thereof made or published without verifying the truth and veracity and genuiness of the original article, the complaint said.