The Madras High Court has temporarily stopped its Registry from numbering a ₹1 crore defamation suit filed by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). The case was filed by the party, represented by its general secretary Duraimurugan, against Minister for Public Works and Sports Development Aadhav Arjuna, Minister for Energy Resources and Law C.T.R. Nirmal Kumar, and the Information Technology (IT) wing of Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK).
A Division Bench of Justices N. Sathish Kumar and G.K. Muthukumar issued the interim order after hearing two separate appeals. The appeals were filed by C.T.R. Nirmal Kumar and the TVK IT wing, challenging an earlier order that allowed the DMK to file the defamation suit before the High Court.
On October 5, 2026, Justice K. Govindarajan Thilakavadi granted permission to the DMK to institute the suit. However, Nirmal Kumar and the TVK IT wing subsequently challenged that decision through separate appeals.
Aadhav Arjuna, one of the people named in the defamation suit, has not filed an appeal against the permission granted to the DMK so far.
During the hearing, Advocate General Vijay Narayan appeared on behalf of the Law Minister, while senior counsel Satish Parasaran represented the TVK IT wing. They presented their initial arguments before the Division Bench.
Senior counsel J. Ravindran, appearing for the DMK, informed the court that he had not yet received the documents relating to the two appeals. In view of this, he told the Bench that the DMK would not take steps to number the defamation suit until the next hearing of the appeals.
As a result, the High Court Registry has been restrained from numbering the suit for the time being. The matter will be taken up again at the next hearing of the appeals.
The interim order temporarily delays the progress of the DMK’s defamation case while the court considers the challenges filed by Nirmal Kumar and the TVK IT wing. The order does not, by itself, decide the merits of the defamation allegations.