All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) General Secretary J Jayalalithaa has submitted that the office of the Public Prosecutor cannot be "misused" by the State government for filing complaints, ignoring genuine concern of the general public regarding the welfare of the Sri Lankan Tamil people.
In a writ petition filed before the Madras High Court, she sought quashing of a Government Order (GO) authorising the City Public Prosecutor to file a defamation complaint against her.
She asked the court to stay proceedings of the defamation case until the current petition was disposed of.
In the petition filed by her counsel A Navaneethakrishnan yesterday, Ms Jayalalithaa stated that she reflected "genuine concern of the general public," in her statement about aid for Sri Lankan Tamils on January 22.
Chief Minister M Karunanidhi issued a legal notice on January 28, threatening to prosecute her for defamation.
She replied to the notice on February 1, following which the City Public Prosecutor (CPP) filed a case in the Principal Sessions Court, which called for her appearance on June 2.
This was on the strength of GO No 293 issued by the Public Department according sanction to the CPP for prosecuting her for defamation. Ms Jayalalithaa said there was no defamatory content in her statement.
She questioned the use of the CPP to file the complaint and said that several writ petitions were pending in courts challenging government orders authorising public prosecutors to file complaints.
She sought a stay on the proceedings of the defamation case and dispensing of her personal appearance in court on June 2.
She also called for a direction from the court to quash GO No 293 as illegal.
The petition is likely to come up for hearing before a vacation bench on June 1.
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