Jayalalithaa was today rebuked by the Supreme Court For bombarding her rivals with lawsuits. (File)
For bombarding her rivals with lawsuits, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa was today rebuked by the Supreme Court, which said: "Defamation is not a counter weapon."
The court has asked the state government to furnish a full list of defamation cases it has filed, within two weeks.
"For any criticism like corruption in the government or that one is unfit to run the government, you can't slap defamation cases," the court admonished.
"Even though we upheld the defamation law, if we find there is a continuous effort and deliberate design to engage government law officers to file cases, it is the duty of the court to protect them," it said.
The court was hearing a petition filed by actor-politician Vijayakanth requesting that an arrest warrant against him be cancelled.
Vijayakanth, who is known as "captain" and heads the DMDK, was named in a police complaint after he commented that Jayalalithaa is heading a corrupt government.
There are 14 defamation cases against him for his comments criticizing the government, especially that the floods that wrecked Chennai in December 2015 had been artificially caused.
Earlier this month, the court had asked Jayalalithaa to respond to Vijayakanth's petition and said: "In a democracy, fair criticism against a government cannot be treated as a defamatory statement against the Chief Minister."
Ms Jayalalithaa, 68, returned to power in Tamil Nadu with a massive mandate in May.