Brother of accused in Kodanad case ordered to pay ₹1.1 cr to EPS for libel

EXPRESSING concern over character assassination of individuals on social media with no restriction, the Madras High Court on Thursday ordered C Dhanapal — brother of the prime accused Kanagaraj (deceased) in Kodanad heist-cum-murder case — to pay ₹1.1 crore as damages to Edappadi K Palaniswami for linking the AIADMK general secretary with the crime.

- R SIVAKUMAR

Justice R M T Teekaa Raman passed the order on a defamation suit filed by Palaniswami against Dhanapal and granted a permanent injunction restraining him from making defamatory statements in the future.

"It is a sorry state of affairs that in the age of social media, desecration of the reputation of public figures has become child's play. Anyone can open a social media account and post the messages; thousands of likes and dislikes are received, however, in the process, the reputation of the man who is targeted becomes, sadly, mud...," the judge said. He termed the trend of making controversial messages viral as an "unfortunate human tendency in the present age".