CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has set aside the Tamil Nadu Advocate General’s consent to initiate criminal contempt against Thuglak magazine editor S Gurumurthy.
Justice N Seshasayee allowed the petitioner filed by Gurumurthy to set aside the consent given by R Shunmugasundaram, the Advocate General (AG), for initiating criminal contempt proceedings against the petitioner for his comment against the judiciary in Thuglak’s annual meeting with its reader on January 2021.
The Advocate General has granted consent to a criminal contempt initiated by advocate S Doraisamy of Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam (TPTK) against Gurumurthy, which was refused by the former AG Vijay Narayan during the AIADMK government in 2021.
On January 14, 2021, Gurumurthy made a remark that even Supreme Court judges are appointed by politicians while pointing out to the judicial delays in corruption cases. It is reported that Gurumurthy has expressed regret for his remarks the next day. However, Doraisamy made a representation to the then AG in March 2021 for consent to initiate the criminal contempt against Gurumurthy, which was refused.
After the regime change, Doraisamy represented the incumbent AG and he granted the consent to initiate the criminal contempt.