Six former Madras High Court judges wrote a letter to Chief Justice AP Sahi requesting him not to take the contempt complaint against actor Suriya into cognizance and “leave the matter as it is”.
In fact, Suriya earlier issued a statement mourning the death of three NEET aspirants in Tamil Nadu who committed suicide. A part of his statement also took a dig at the functioning of courts amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The court and judges that continue legal proceedings through video calls ask students to write exams without fear,” wrote Suriya in the statement.
Following Suriya’s statement, Judge S.M. Subramaniam of Madras High Court wrote to the Chief Justice asking him to press charges against him for contempt of court. He has also highlighted in the letter that the actor’s comments about legal proceedings show the judiciary in a bad light and pose a threat to the public’s confidence in the legal system.
But the six former Madras High Court judges intervened writing to the Chief Justice not to take cognizance of the actor’s remarks.
“We are afraid that such a construction made on the statement of Suriya will be slightly off the mark and it does not require any action as requested by the learned Judge,” read the letter by Justice K. Chandru along with five others who extended support to it. The six Judges also requested the Chief Justice to look at Suriya’s statement in totality and take into cognizance the work he has done for students through his Trust.
The former MHC Judges who wrote to the Chief Justice Sahi are Justice K. Chandru, K.N. Basha, T. Sudanthiram, D. Hariparanthaman, K. Kan-nan, G.M. and Akbar Alihas. They said in the letter that Suriya’s remarks should be read in totality. They requested the chief justice to consider his works done through his trust which helped hundreds of the poor children to finish higher education. The court should show magnanimity and leave the matter without taking cognizance, former judges added.
Support continued to pour in for the actor Suriya as several members from the legal fraternity and cinema field expressed their support to the actor. However, Tamil Nadu Advocates’ Association has condemned the ac- tor’s remark and said that observations are condemnable which downgrade the judicial function and he should face the contempt initiated by the justice Subramaniam.