A magistrate court on Tuesday dismissed a petition filed by the Dravidar Viduthalai Kazhagam, seeking a direction to the police to register a case against actor Rajinikanth for having allegedly given a defamatory speech during an event marking the 50th anniversary of Thuglak magazine.
Speaking at the event, Mr. Rajinikanth had claimed that social reformer Periyar E.V. Ramasamy once took out a procession in Salem, where he paraded pictures of Ram and Sita naked and garlanded them with footwear. His statement drew strong criticism from Periyarist outfits. Alleging that his speech had incited hatred between different groups and caused disturbance to public peace, DVK Chennai district unit secretary Umapathy lodged a complaint. As the police did not act on his complaint, he preferred a petition to II Metropolitan Magistrate Court, Egmore.
