Chennai: Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi has filed a criminal defamation case against a now-suspended ruling DMK spokesperson for saying publicly that Ravi should be gunned down.
During an event on 13 January, former spokesperson Sivaji Krishnamoorthy made derogatory comments against Ravi after he skipped portions of a government-approved speech in the state Assembly earlier this month. These portions reportedly spoke of secularism and mentioned Dalit icon and the man who drafted the Constitution, B.R. Ambedkar.
Krishnamoorthy said: “The chief minister is asking us not to scold the Governor. Had he read the speech properly, I would have placed flowers on his feet and thanked him with folded hands. In Tamil Nadu, if this man refuses to utter the name of Ambedkar, my forefather who gave the Constitution to India, do I not have the right to hit him with a slipper? Didn’t you (R.N. Ravi) take an oath in the name of the Constitution? Wasn’t it Ambedkar, my grandfather, who wrote it? If you won’t say his name, go to Kashmir. We will send terrorists, so that they will gun you down.”
Soon after that speech, the Governor’s office filed a complaint with the Chennai police commissioner, warning that the “the abusive and intimidatory speech attracts offence under Section 124 (assaulting President or a Governor with intent to compel or restrain the exercise of any lawful power) of the IPC besides other relevant sections of the law”.
Last week, Krishnamoorthy’s party, the ruling DMK, distanced itself from his remarks and suspended him from all posts for “violating party discipline and bringing disrepute to the party”.
Opposition BJP’s state vice president Narayanan Thirupthy has questioned why Krishnamoorthy is not behind bars. “It is in their DNA to abuse the constitutional heads and their opponents,” he told ThePrint.
BJP’s alliance partner AIADMK has said Krishnamoorthy’s “temporary suspension” is an act. “He may be taken back after a few months. This shows their culture and that they are happy to nurture and breed these kinds of people. It will take away the attention from larger and perennial issues. Divisive politics is being played with the Governor,” AIADMK spokesperson Kovai Sathyan said.
It can be mentioned that Governor Ravi has had several run-ins with the DMK government, who allege he is a “BJP man”. The 9 January incident when the Governor went off-script has made the relationship more bitter.
Ravi filed the complaint Thursday via public prosecutor G. Devarajan before Principal Sessions Judge S. Alli, who will take up the matter for hearing soon.
Also read: ‘Interpretation is erroneous,’ Governor Ravi says he didn’t suggest renaming of Tamil Nadu