C O M M O N J U D G M E N T

(Delivered by S.S.SUNDAR, J.)

These appeals are directed against the common order dated 12.04.2023 passed by the learned Single Judge in O.A.No.731 of 2022 in C.S.No.244 of

2022 and A.No.5164 of 2022 in C.S.No.244 of 2022.

2.The appellant in both the appeals is the 1st defendant in the suit in C.S.No.244 of 2022 filed by the 1st respondent for the following reliefs :

“(a) to direct the 1st defendant to pay to the plaintiff a sum of Rs.2,00,00,000/- (Rupees Two Crores only) as damages along with interest @8% p.a. from date of decree till date of realisation;

(b) for a permanent injunction restraining the 1st defendant from in any way making, printing, publishing, broadcasting, disseminating or circulating the statements, articles, pictures, cartoons, caricatures, sketches, tweets and video mentioned in the schedules A to L herein or its contents and/or any other defamatory statements, articles, pictures, cartoons, caricatures, sketches, tweets or videos which causes damage or tends to lower the reputation of the plaintiff on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and/or in any other media and/or in any other manner;

(c) mandatory injunction directing the 1st defendant to remove all the defamatory tweets and video mentioned in the schedules A to L herein from YouTube, Twitter and all media accounts of the 1st defendant;

(d) mandatory injunction directing the 2nd defendant to remove the video mentioned in the schedule G herein from its platform www.youtube.com;

(e) mandatory injunction directing the 3rd defendant to remove all the tweets and video mentioned in the schedules A to F and H to L herein from its platform www.twitter.com;

(f) mandatory injunction directing the 4th defendant to remove the video mentioned in the schedule G herein from its YouTube channel www.youtube.com or any other media;”

3.Pending suit, the plaintiff filed O.A.No.731 of 2022 for granting interim injunction restraining the appellant/1st defendant from in any way making, printing, publishing, broadcasting, disseminating or circulating the statements, articles, pictures, cartoons, caricatures, sketches, tweets and video mentioned in the Schedule A to L therein or its contents and/or any other defamatory statements, articles, pictures, cartoons, caricatures, sketches, tweets or videos which causes damage or tends to lower the applicant/plaintiff reputation on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and/or in any other media and/or in any other manner pending disposal of the suit. He also filed A.No.5164 of 2022 for interim direction directing the appellant/1st defendant to remove all the defamatory tweets and video mentioned in the Schedule A to L therein from YouTube, Twitter and all media accounts of the appellant/1st defendant pending disposal of the suit. These applications were also heard with some other applications for interim directions against the other defendants in A.Nos.5161 to

5163 of 2022 and A.No.5913 of 2022.

4.The plaintiff is the Minister for Electricity, Prohibition and Excise Department of Government of Tamil Nadu. The appellant, who is the 1st defendant in the suit, is the Tamil Nadu State President of BJP for IT and Social Media. The appellant published a series of tweets and the plaintiff contended that all these tweets and videos published in social platform is to lower the reputation of the plaintiff in the eyes of the Society. The appellant defended the Interlocutary Applications mainly on the ground that there is sufficient material in the public domain to believe that the allegations against the plaintiff are justified.

5.The learned Single Judge disposed of all the applications in the following lines :

“33.In the result, these applications are disposed of as follows:-

(a) The first defendant is restrained by an order of interim injunction from publishing or disseminating, on any media, publications that directly or indirectly allege corruption on the part of the plaintiff pending disposal of the suit. This order will not, however, stand