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The Madras High Court on Wednesday issued notice to the Tamil Nadu government on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking safeguards to prevent police from registering FIRs against political leaders and activists for making critical comments against the government on social media.
The court directed the state government to file its reply within two weeks. During the hearing, Additional Public Prosecutor Arun Anbumani informed the court that the state government was in the process of formulating a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) in this regard. Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) chief is expected to chair a key party meeting today. All TVK MLAs have been summoned to attend a crucial meeting today after a few incidents of alleged misconduct by party MLAs. The consultative meeting will be led by Chief Minister Joseph Vijay and TVK General Secretary N Anand. The party leadership is expected to issue strict instructions to MLAs on handling the situation and maintaining discipline. This comes in the backdrop of allegations that TVK MLA Arul Vignesh sent obscene messages to the Kallakurichi District Collector. However, on Tuesday, Arul Vignesh denied DMK MP Kanimozhi's allegations of sending an inappropriate WhatsApp message to the District Collector, dismissing them as rumours and accusing her of engaging him in dirty politics. Responding to the allegations, Vignesh said he had not done anything wrong and questioned how he could enter the Collectors residence, which he said was guarded by security personnel and equipped with CCTV cameras. Everyone came to know of the rumours. I am clearly saying that I have not done anything. Rumours are rumours. It is not true. MP (DMK MP Kanimozhi) alleged that I did this. The Collectors bungalow has security guards and CCTV. How can I enter there? he said. In another case of misconduct by a TVK leader, a man was allegedly assaulted by Tamil Nadu Deputy Speaker Ravishankar and was admitted to Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital in Tiruchirappalli. The victim has alleged that he was threatened and forced to record a video denying the assault. Karthik Kumar, a resident of Kannabiran Colony in Thuraiyur, Tiruchirappalli district, said he had repeatedly approached the municipal administration regarding the lack of basic amenities in his locality, but no action had been taken. (ANI)
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