Interim stay on women's commission probe into CV Shanmugam's remarks

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has ordered an interim stay on the proceedings based on the directive issued by the state women’s commission to initiate criminal action against AIADMK MP CV Shanmugam for allegedly making controversial remarks about women.

It was alleged that CV Shanmugam, a former minister and current Rajya Sabha MP, made controversial remarks on women while participating in a booth committee training meeting in Villupuram a few months back. Following this, two women, Pramila and Radhika of Chennai, filed a complaint with the state women’s commission.

The commission issued a summons to the former minister, and then directed the DGP to initiate criminal proceedings against him on November 11, claiming he did not appear for the inquiry.

The MP then filed a petition at the High Court seeking to quash the order.

During the hearing before Justice AD Jagadish Chandira, counsels for Shanmugam, Riyaz and Ayyapparaj, argued that the summons only contained the complainants' names and not the evidence or other details.

The counsel also argued that the MP had not participated in or spoken at any Chennai event in a year, yet the commission acted based on a complaint by Chennai residents, and reiterated that Shanmugam had not made any controversial statements against women at any meeting.

They also said they received the summons for appearance on October 28, only the previous day, and that the women's commission had no authority to order registration of a criminal case.

Counsel for the police, KMD Muhilan, stated that as the commission had already issued its directive, the petition was not maintainable at this stage and sought time to collect and verify relevant details.

After hearing both sides, the judge directed the police to provide an explanation and imposed an interim stay on the commission's order. The hearing was adjourned for next week.