Madras High Court allows Minister to pursue defamation suit against YouTuber

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has allowed Minister for Mineral Resources TK Prabhu's petition seeking permission to initiate a Rs 1 crore defamation suit against YouTuber M Maridhas over alleged defamatory social media posts.

Justice K Govindarajan Thilakavadi allowed the Minister's petition and directed the Registry to complete the numbering of the case and list the matter for hearing.

The TVK minister, elected from Karaikudi constituency, alleged that YouTuber Maridhas has been spreading false and baseless corruption allegations against him on his YouTube channel and sharing them on his X handle, intending to defame him.

Therefore, he filed a petition before the Madras High Court seeking permission to initiate a suit against Maridhas, claiming Rs 1 crore as damages for defamation.

The damages have been claimed for loss of reputation, emotional distress, mental agony, and violation of the petitioner's dignity and privacy.