Plea against Mano Thangaraj for social media post on PM

Madurai: Madras high court on Wednesday sought a response from the state on a plea by an advocate who sought a direction to Tuticorin district police to take appropriate action against minister for milk and dairy development Mano Thangaraj for his social media post linking Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ‘Epstein Files'.Justice S Srimathy directed the state to file a counter affidavit while hearing a petition filed by M Neethipandian, district head of BJP advocates team, Tuticorin North.The petitioner stated that he came across an objectionable Facebook post by Thangaraj which contained a nearly three-minute fabricated and morphed video linking Modi to ‘Epstein Files'. This was patently false, malicious and defamatory. He stated that independent fact-checking organisations categorically debunked the claims as 100% fabricated, with no evidentiary basis whatsoever.Since the social media post disclosed a cognisable offence, he lodged a complaint with Kovilpatti West police station against the minister. The complaint contained complete evidence, including a Facebook screenshot with a timestamp and a video link. Despite this, police failed to register an FIR, thereby wilfully violating their mandatory statutory duty.Hence, the petitioner moved court seeking a direction to the Kovilpatti West police to take appropriate action against the minister based on his complaint and obtain sanction from the chief secretary, if necessary. The hearing in the case was adjourned to March 12.