Network18 on Friday told the Madras High Court that it has received terms of compromise with YouTuber Maridhas against whom it had filed Rs 1.5 crore defamation suit. The court also sought to know whether former News 18 Tamil Nadu Editor M Gunasekaran has also received any terms of compromise.
Three plaintiffs had gone to court against Maridhas over his videos- Gunasekaran, journalist Jeevasagapthan (previously an anchor with News 18 Tamil) and the TV18 group. Maridhas has given terms of compromise to Network18, but has till now not made any such offer to the other two plaintiffs.
Gunasekaran, however, took to Twitter to say that there will be “no compromise” from his side and that his defamation fight will continue. “No compromise from my side. I was a victim of malicious slander and agenda-driven abuse. The fight for justice will continue with same vigour. அவதூறுகளுக்கும் வசைகளுக்கும் எதிரான, நீதிக்கான போராட்டம் சமரசமின்றி தொடரும். உங்கள் பேரன்புக்கு நன்றி. #MediaFreedom #FightAgainstSlander (This fight against defamation will continue without compromise. Thank you for your love),” he tweeted.
Gunasekaran and Network18 had filed a Rs.1.5 crore civil defamation suit against the YouTuber who 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 Gunasekaran, who was the then editor of News 18 Tamil. Later, as Gunasekaran quit the channel, the petitions were delinked.
On Friday, the court asked Gunasekaran’s lawyer if they had also received any such communication from Maridhas and while his counsel initially sought time to respond to this query, Gunasekaran has unequivocally now maintained that there will be no room for compromise.
Gunasekaran had resigned from his post in News 18 in July 2020, following allegations of political bias by YouTuber Maridas. The YouTuber alleged that under Gunasekaran’s leadership, the channel had taken an anti Hindu stance. Maridhas also slandered Gunasekaran and colleagues without any proof. However in his letter to colleagues, following his resignation, Gunasekaran maintained that his channel never favoured any single political party. Maridhas had written to the News 18 management in New Delhi alleging that Gunasekaran and some other journalists in the channel were direct or indirect supporters of the DMK and the DK.
After Network18 Tamil Nadu filed the civil defamation suit against Maridhas, the court instructed him to stop publishing any further videos defaming TV19 Broadcast limited on his social media pages. He was also directed to remove all defamatory material he had posted on the channel.
The Madras High Court had in July instructed 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.