Chennai:
The Madras High Court on Tuesday dismissed a petition by the Associate Editor of Tamil bi-weekly 'Nakheeran', A Kamaraj, seeking to quash proceedings against him initiated by the Privileges Committee (PC) of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly relating two articles in the magazine's January 7 issue about Chief Minister Jayalalithaa.
In his order, Justice V Ramasubramanian said "I am obliged in the constitutional scheme of things to leave it to the petitioner to establish before the Privileges Committee that he was not associated or involved with any of the two articles in question."
Kamaraj was served with two communications from the Legislative Assembly Secretariat on January 20, asking him to explain before January 27 about the articles on the food habit of the Chief Minister.
A plea by him that an advocate may represent him before the Privileges Committee was rejected by the Secretary of the Legislative Assembly Secretariat following which he approached the High court.
Kamaraj contended that the proceedings against him were initiated without any application of mind to the question whether he had anything to do either with the cover story.
He claimed that under section 7 of 'Press and Registration of Books Act" publishers and editors alone were responsible for publication of any news.
Regarding Kamaraj's contention pertaining to the Act, the judge said section 7 indicated that it could be raised only in civil and criminal legal proceedings.
The expression legal proceedings used in the section may not include the proceedings within the state assembly. "Therefore, the presumption raised in the section cannot be thrown into service in respect of the proceedings before the legislature of a state", the judge said.
The Judge said that the declaration filed under the section could not be taken to be a general amnesty for all others extending beyond the purview of the act.
He said there was no scope for interference of the notice, especially at the present stage and dismissed the petition.