Summons Issued To Kerala Opposition Leader V. D. Satheesan On Defamation Suit Filed By State RSS Chief
A Court in Kannur has issued summons to Kerala's leader of opposition and Congress MLA V. D. Satheesan on a suit alleging defamation, filed by Advocate K. K. Balaram, the Pranth Sangh Chalak of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Kerala.
The suit has been filed seeking to restrain Satheesan and others from repeating statements made by him Satheesan regarding the contents of "Bunch of Thoughts", a book written by Sri. Madhav Sadashivrao Golwalkar.
Satheesan, while speaking about the remarks of the then Minister Saji Cheriyan against the Constitution of India, had said on July 6 that Cheriyan's remark that the Indian Constitution was written by the British is also the opinion of the RSS and that the same has been mentioned in the book "Bunch of Thoughts" written by the "founder of the RSS".
The plaint filed before the Kannur Munsiff Court by Advocates M. R. Hareesh and K. O. Prathap Nambiar states that Satheesan's statement is false and a lie. "The said book does not contain the statement made by Saji Cherian as narrated by the defendant. The book does not mention anywhere that the Indian Constitution is one written and given by the Britishers to India", the plaint says.
The plaint filed under Section 26 and Order 7 Rule 11 of the Code of Civil Procedure also says that Golwalkar was not the founder of the RSS as claimed by Satheesan.
As per the plaint, even though the plaintiff had demanded the defendant to withdraw the statement made by him, the defendant repeated his statement before the media.
"The plaintiff has made the said statement out of political reason just to tarnish the image of the workers and sympathisers of the RSS," the plaint says, which also says, "The plaintiff being an office bearer of the Kerala unit of RSS sustained severe mental agony by hearing the statement made by the defendant".
The plaint also says that since the defendant is a leader of a political party, there is every chance that his followers and workers of the party will repeat the statement of the defendant.
Kerala Minister for Fisheries and Cultural Affairs Saji Cheriyan triggered a controversy by saying that the Indian Constitution is suited to exploit/loot the people. The Member of the Legislative Assembly belonging to the CPI(M) said "The Constitution was prepared by the British and the Indians wrote it down. As a result of its implementation in the Country over the past 75 years, no matter who says otherwise, I will say that the Constitution is most suited for exploitation".
After facing protests from the opposition, the Minister resigned last week and an FIR was registered against him under Section 2 of the Prevention of Insults to the National Honour Act, 1971.
