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HC to hear arguments on maintainability of Tamil Nadu author’s petition against book ban
Author Royappan’s defence is that he investigated and researched on the folklore and that this is the true story. He said the history of Madurai Veeran has largely remained part of oral history in TN
A special Madras high court bench of three judges on Friday held its first hearing on a petition filed by author Kuzhanthai Royappan against the state banning his book in 2015.
The book, ‘Madurai Veeranin Unmai Varalaru’ (the true history of Madurai’s braveheart’), was banned because the author portrayed Madurai’s braveheart, a folklore hero, as a Dalit who loves a woman from a higher caste. The home department under the then AIADMK government led by late J Jayalalithaa had issued an order in 2015 stating that “these portions are likely to cause disharmony among communities.”
Author Royappan’s defence is that he investigated and researched on the folklore and that this is the true story. “None of the so-called offending portions lead to any such conclusion and the entirety of the publication is an attempt in revealing the truth, and inform the reading public of the life, times and heroism of Madurai Veeran,” the petitioner had submitted to the court. According to the petitioner, the history of Madurai Veeran has largely remained part of oral history in Tamil Nadu.
A preliminary objection raised by the state is regarding the maintainability of the present writ petition filed in 2017. “The judges had doubts over its maintainability so the case has been adjourned to November 22,” the government’s special pleader Veda Bagat Singh told HT.
The book was published in 2013. Two thousand copies were sold and the author had also placed on record the receipt for printing of 2,000 copies by Kavi Graphics Printers besides Kelir book shop and Aadhi Tamizhar Thozhizhalar Peravai.
The high court’s Chief Justice, Sanjay V Gangapurwala, had constituted a three-judge bench comprising Justices D Krishnakumar, C V Karthikeyan, and P Dhanabal to hear the case on Friday.
Previously, the case was heard by a single judge bench of justice Anita Sumanth who in June observed that in the light of Section 96 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), this petition was required to be heard by a special three-judge bench constituted by the Chief Justice.
Justice Sumanth had said in the June hearing that “the petitioner really does not have any effective argument” except for relying on the case of the high court’s order in 2016 dismissing the criminal case against Tamil writer Perumal Murugan for allegedly offending religious sentiments in his book, Madhorubagan.
