Her Police are now after Gurumurthy: They have filed a case against him

Adapted, courtesy: TNIE, Feb. 13 & 14.

Jayalalithaa’s police have registered an FIR against Swadeshi Jagaran Manch convenor and columnist S. Gurumurthy under three Sections of the IPC at the Vishnu Kanchi police station on the directions of Kanchipuram judicial Magistrate-I G. Uthamaraj, on representation from Sakthivelu, the Investigating Officer in the Sankararaman case.

Gurumurthy had, on receipt of summons, appeared for questioning by the Kanchi SIT in connection with four articles he had written in ‘The New Indian Express’. Subsequently, he had sent a notice to the police on the reported contents of his statements to SIT. The filing of the FIR is a follow up to these.

Reacting to the reports of FIR against him for purported offences like not cooperating with the police and giving false information, Gurumurthy said in a statement from Mumbai, “if these reports are true, I tern these efforts as ridiculous.” Expressing surprise that police had spread rumours about the cases even before he was served with the summons, he said, “I would like to state that these intimidatory tacks would not deter me from pursuing the proposes case against SIT officials for leaking misleading contents about my statements made to them at the time they examined me.”

In a communication faxed to Mohanavelu, DSP of Vishnu Kanchi Police Station and ADSP Sakthivelu of the SIT investigating the Sankararaman murder case, Gurumurthy’s counsel Mahesh Jethmalani said his client was in Mumbai in connection with extremely professional commitments scheduled much in advance.

Stating that Gurumurthy would be outside Tami Nadu for the next two weeks, he said, on February 26, he will be available in Tamil Nadu at his normal place of residence in Chennai. He also furnished Gurumurthy’s mobile phone number.

Gurumurthy’s counsel seeks copy of video from Police

On Feb. 13, the counsel for Sri S. Gurumurthy sent a notice to the Special Investigating Team investigating the Sankararaman case, telling them to provide a copy of the police video of the columnist’s interrogation. In the notice, counsel R. Shankaranarayanan has accused the SIT headed by SP Premkumar of leaking information about the interrogation to a Tamil magazine with a view to causing injury to not only to his client but also Sri Jayendra Saraswati Swamigal.

According to counsel, when Gurumurthy was interrogated on Feb. 9 at Kancheepuram, he had not objected to the video recording, though no prior consent had been obtained. Subsequently, he came to know that “Nakkeeran” had carried details of the examination with some statements attributed to him and photographs which could only be from the video taken by the SIT on that day. Under Section 162 CrPC, no statement or any record thereof shall be used for any purpose other than enquiry or trial. Now that the tenet had been violated, it constituted a breach of the law of privacy and hence his client is entitled to proceed against the SIT under the law, the counsel said.

When Gurumurthy had been summoned based on articles he had written on Express, counsel wondered how Nakkeeran could have been exempted from the process. “My client has instructed me to demand a copy of the videotape…and is willing to bear the cost of the same. Unless you give satisfactory explanation for the leakage… my client will be free to take appropriate legal action against (you),” counsel added.

Police issues notice to TNIE and Cho

Manoj Kumar Sonthalia, C & MD of “The New Indian Express” and journalist and MP Cho S. Ramaswamy to have been told to depose as witness before the Kanchi SIT in connection with the case registered against S. Gurumurthy about matters involving the Sankararaman murder case. The SIT initially issued summons, asking them to appear before Kanchi policed. Subsequently, it telephoned them that they need not come. Instead, the team would visit them at their offices and record statements.

Police examine TNIE and Cho

On Feb. 14 the police examined Manoj Kumar Sonthalia, C & MD of “The New Indian Express” and journalist and MP Cho S. Ramaswamy in connection with the case registered against S. Gurumurthy. Following the registration of the case against the columnist by the Vishnu Kanchi police in Kancheepuram district, inspector Mohanavel consecutively came to the offices of both TNIE and Cho and examined the Managing Editor, Manoj Kumar Sonthalia, and the editor of Thuglak, for about an hour each. The police wanted to get some information about the publication of the articles written by Gurumurthy in the newspaper on the Kanchi Sankarachaya case.

The BJP national secretary, L. Ganeshan, has condemned the filing of case against the columnist and convenor of the Swadeshi Jagaran Manch, S. Gurumurthy. He described the police action as anti-democratic, and the charge that Mr. Gurumurthy indulged in diversionary tactics was not acceptable. The police have not proceeded against any journals or those who wrote against the Kanchi Shankara Math or in favour of the police. “Mr. Gurumurthy is one of the few who defended the Math. It is an intimidating act. Every section should condemn any effort of stifling the freedom of the press,” the BJP leader said.