Subramanian Swamy, actor-politician Vijayakanth, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi - following in their footsteps, a Tamil biweekly has obtained an omnibus relief from the Supreme Court in connection with a set of 15 criminal defamation proceedings initiated against it by chief minister, ministers and senior IAS officers in Tamil Nadu.
Like the other three, Tamil magazine 'Nakheeran' assailed the legality of Section 199 (2) of Code Of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), 1973, and sought to stay criminal defamation proceedings against it.
'Nakheeran' moved the SC saying the government's orders sanctioning prosecution of the magazine had been issued indiscriminately, and the 15 complaints cited all its 20 reporters as respondents. Calling it an attempt to intimidate the media, its counsel P T Perumal said the facility was mostly used as a tool of harassment against media and opposition party leaders by ruling parties.