Tamil Nadu Minister for Milk and Dairy Development B.V. Ramana and Minister for Commercial Taxes and Registration M.C. Sampath have moved criminal defamation cases against Tamil weekly Ananda Vikatan .

According to City Public Prosecutor M.L. Jegan who moved the charges on behalf of the Ministers, the weekly carried “defamatory” news reports about the two Ministers in the issue dated July 22 and August 5, 2015 respectively. Contending that the articles were published to tarnish the reputation of the Ministers and the State government, the prosecutor wanted the Principal Sessions Court to initiate defamation proceedings against the weekly’s editor Kannan and its publisher Madhavan.