Madras High Court Dismisses Case Against Rajinikanth Over Periyar Remark

In a big relief to actor Rajinikanth, Madras High Court on Friday dismissed the case filed by a Dravidian outfit against him over his comment against social reformer EV Ramasamy ‘Periyar’. “Why rush to High Court instead of going to Magistrate Court,' the High Court asked while dismissing the plea. Rajnikanth has already refused to apologise saying that he stood by his comments maintaining they were factual.

Days after fringe Dravidian outfits condemned his remarks and demanded an apology for ‘insulting’ Periyar, the actor displayed clippings from magazines and newspapers in support of his claim.

“A controversy has emerged that I said something that did not happen. But I did not say anything that did not occur. I only said what I heard and things that appeared in magazines. Sorry, I will not express regret or apologise,” he told reporters outside his Poes Garden residence.

Further, he said, “I did not say anything out of imagination or something that was not there. Lakshmanan (then Jan Sangh and now BJP leader) who took part in a dharna (in 1971) has corroborated it,” he said.

“It was not an incident that can be denied but an incident that must be forgotten,” he said.

Reacting, DMK president MK Stalin said Periyar had done “yeoman service” to the people and considering it the actor should ponder before he expressed his views on him.

Also, he said Rajinikanth was not a politician but an actor. The Dravidian party chief said Periyar lived and tirelessly worked for the Tamil people all his life and this aspect should be borne in mind by the actor.

With PTI Inputs