Madras High Court restrains Leena Manimekalai, Susi Ganesan from speaking to press on sexual harassment claims

The Madras High Court on Thursday restrained filmmaker Leena Manimekalai and director Susi Ganesan from speaking to the press on the sexual harassment claims levelled by the former against the latter [Susi Ganesan v. Leena Manimekalai]..Justice Abdul Quddhose observed that a prima facie case has been made out for the grant of interim injunction.“Both the plaintiff (Ganesan) and the first defendant (Manimekalai) are directed not to go to the media or tweet messages with regard to their respective contentions as the matter is sub-judice,” the single-judge directed..The Court was hearing an application in a suit filed by Ganesan against Manimekali, singer Chinmayi Sripada, Editor of The News Minute Dhanya Rajendran and others seeking damages and a permanent injunction restraining them from making defamatory statements against him.After hearing the parties, it opined that the balance of convenience lay in Ganesan’s favour.It was stated that, “irreparable injury will be caused to the plaintiff, if after trial, this Court finds that there is no truth in the statements made by the defendants.”.Ganesan claimed that Manimekalai had a vendetta against him and published defamatory content against him in 2017 on the social media platform Meta (formerly Facebook) claiming that she was a victim of sexual harassment at his hands.He submitted that he had a good track record, had no criminal cases pending against him, and had never even been accused of an offence. Thus, the defendant only sought to tarnish his image by accusing him of sexual harassment without filing so much as a criminal complaint..It was his contention that Manimekalai, in connivance with Sripada, during the pendency of the defamation trial, published a post on Twitter with a photograph that he claimed was ill-intentioned and meant to annihilate and malign his future career prospects.Ganesan added certain individuals who retweeted the post as defendants to the current suit, including Rajendran, who interviewed Manimekalai on the allegations. He claimed that the statements made during that interview were defamatory..While granting an interim injunction, the Court issued notice to Manimekalai, Sripada, Twitter India, Google LLC, Meta, Rajendran, and activist Dhivya Marunthiah..The case will be heard next on February 15, 2022..In a previous round of litigation before the Madras High Court, Justice M Dhandapani had quashed the passport authority's September 2021 decision to impound the passport of Manimekalai pending the defamation proceedings initiated by Ganesan..[Read Order]