The Madras High Court has instructed YouTuber Maridhas to stop publishing any further videos defaming TV18 Broadcast Limited on his social media pages. The court further directed him to remove all defamatory videos he has already posted, making unfounded allegations against the network's Tamil channel.
Justice CV Karthikeyan gave these directions in connection to a Rs.1.5 crore civil defamation suit filed by Network 18 and it's editor Gunasekaran against the YouTuber who has alleged that News18 Tamil and its journalists are ‘anti-Hindu’ and have political affiliations to the Dravida Kazhagam and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. He had also personally attacked News 18 Tamil editor Gunasekaran.
The channel was forced to approach the court with a defamation suit - both civil and criminal defamation- after the Chennai police failed to act on their complaint on July 12. The court, however, made it clear that an individual cannot level or publish such allegations against News 18 without any proof and that the YouTuber has posted four such videos.
Maridhas had also written a letter to the management of the network alleging religious bias by the channel and asking that action be taken against the editor and its journalists. Other than this, he started a Change.org petition and also circulated a letter that people could forward to the channel's management asking them to remove a few journalists.
He further claimed that a senior editor from the channel had responded with an email, admitting mistakes and agreeing to carry out an investigation. But this email was later proved to be fake.
In their complaint to the police, TV18 Broadcast Limited in turn had alleged that Maridhas's acts and videos on social media are aimed at provoking and outraging the feelings of Hindus in Tamil Nadu. It was also allegedly meant to promote hatred between religious groups. They complained that his videos will provoke the public to commit offences against News 18 Tamil editor and reporters and break public peace.
The network has maintained that it has equal regard for all religions and that it does not discriminate on the basis of faith or promote 'anti-Hindu' material.