Raj Bhavan gets magazine editor arrested, court sets him free

CHENNAI: The editor of

Tamil biweekly magazine

Nakkheeran,

R Gopal

, was arrested on Tuesday morning on a complaint filed by the Tamil Nadu governor's office, only to walk free in the evening after a magistrate court refused to send him to judicial custody.


Acting on a complaint filed by the governor's deputy secretary, T Sengottaiyan, over a cover story published in April this year, the Zam Bazaar police registered an FIR against 35 journalists associated with the magazine. The cops later intercepted Gopal at Chennai airport and took him into custody triggering an outcry from the media fraternity.

When police produced him in court, the 13th metropolitan magistrate Gopinathan refused to send Gopal to jail after his counsel P T Perumal pointed out that the governor's staff member has filed a complaint on October 6 over an article published almost six months ago in April. Counsel also argued that the article would in no way attract Section 124 of the IPC that deals with the offence of 'assaulting' the governor with an intent to compel or restrain him from exercising his lawful power. N Ram, veteran journalist and chairman of The Hindu Publishing Group, also made a submission in the court saying Section 124 had been invoked without any application of mind.

Earlier, DMK leader M K Stalin met MDMK leader Vaiko who was arrested and kept in a marriage hall for holding a dharna over the issue. The opposition leader also called on Gopal at a Triplicane hospital where he had been taken for medical examination.