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Madras High Court on Wednesday sought a response from the State government on a petition filed by an advocate seeking action against Tamil Nadu's Minister for Milk and Dairy Development, Mano Thangaraj, over a social media post allegedly linking Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the 'Epstein Files'.
Justice S Srimathy directed the State to file a counter affidavit while hearing the petition filed by M. Neethipandian, District Head of the BJP Advocates' Team, Tuticorin North. The petitioner sought a direction to the Tuticorin District Police to take appropriate legal action against the Minister in connection with the controversial post. The petitioner submitted that he had come across an "objectionable" Facebook post allegedly shared by Minister Mano Thangaraj, which contained a nearly three-minute fabricated and morphed video linking Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the 'Epstein Files'. He contended that the claims made in the video were patently false, malicious, and defamatory in nature. According to him, independent fact-checking organisations had categorically debunked the content as 100 per cent fabricated, stating that it had no evidentiary basis whatsoever. The petitioner further stated that, as the social media post disclosed a cognisable offence, he lodged a formal complaint at the Kovilpatti West Police Station against the Minister. The complaint reportedly included complete supporting material, such as a screenshot of the Facebook post with a timestamp and the video link. However, despite the submission of the complaint and supporting evidence, the police allegedly failed to register an FIR, thereby wilfully neglecting their mandatory statutory duty. Consequently, the petitioner approached the Madras High Court, seeking a direction to the Kovilpatti West Police to take appropriate action against the Minister based on his complaint and to obtain sanction from the Chief Secretary, if required. The matter was adjourned for further hearing to March 12. (ANI)
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