Madras HC Closes Suo Motu Criminal Contempt Proceedings against Actor Suriya
Today the Madras High Court held that actor’s remarks “unnecessary and inappropriate”, but ruled that there would be no contempt proceedings. Film star Surya Siva Kumar will not face a contempt case in the Madras High Court over his remarks related to the alleged suicide of three medical aspirants.
The order passed by the Bench of Chief Justice AP Sahi and Justice Senthil Ramamoorthy. They said , “In our prudent discretion, this case is not fit to proceed.” We fully agree with the opinion expressed by the learned Advocate General. “Further the court said, “It is unnecessary and inappropriate for a cine actor to be ignorant in this way. The entire judiciary of this state has served the interest of the citizens.
The High Court Judge SM Balasubramanian had said that the actor was in contempt of court over his remarks on four candidates from NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test), who recently committed suicide in Tamil Nadu.
Suriya had described the student’s deaths as “painful”, stating, “With fear of life due to Corona, the court which dispenses justice through video-conferencing, orders the students to fearlessly take the exam.”
Judge Balasubramaniam wrote to the Chief Justice of the High Court “The above statement was not only undermined, but criticized, in my opinion of the contempt of court and the judicial system of our great nation along with the Honourable Judges”. In a bad shape, this threatens the public’s trust in the judiciary. “The judge also said “The statement shows that the Honorable Judge is afraid of his own life and provides justice through justice conferencing. Therefore, they have no morale to pass orders instructing students to appear for NEET exam without any fear.
However, it appeared that the judge’s translation from Tamil to the media was false. The judge’s version included elements such as “morale” and “while” which are not found in the actor’s statement.
In view of the increasing COVID 19 cases, several states have called for the suspension of NEET and JEE. The Supreme Court twice rejected petitions to defer examinations, once by students and other times by opposition-ruled states.
Suriya also called for a movement for a united voice against NEET, saying, “NEET kills the dreams of children of poor families as doctors. We should not be a silent spectator of student deaths. ”
By Priya Kumari
