Chennai: The Chennai High Court has dismissed the petition filed by DMK MLA Markandeyan, who had sought to quash the order remanding him to prison after he was arrested for allegedly speaking in a threatening manner toward the Chief Minister.
DMK MLA from Vilathikulam Markandeyan, who spoke at a thanksgiving meeting for voters in Kovilpatti in Thoothukudi district, was arrested by the Thoothukudi district crime branch police after a case was registered against him for allegedly making threatening remarks toward the Chief Minister.
Meanwhile, a petition had been filed on Markandeyan’s behalf in the Chennai High Court seeking to quash the order remanding him to prison.
This petition was heard by Judge G.K. Ilanthiraiyan. At that time, on behalf of MLA Markandeyan, it was argued that, “He spoke only in response to the Chief Minister, who said that the Legislative Assembly would be locked. There was no ulterior motive in it. Since the Magistrate has mechanically ordered that he be imprisoned, the order imprisoning the petitioner should be set aside.”
On the police side, it was argued that, “With the Legislative Assembly in session, it is not possible to verify whether this threat is real. This was a statement made in public. If no arrest action is taken, he may repeat the same offense. The magistrate ordered detention in prison only after examining all the documents and being satisfied. There is nothing wrong with that order.”
After hearing arguments from both sides, the judge had reserved the order on the petition without specifying a date.
In this situation, when the case came up for hearing again today, the judge dismissed the petition filed by DMK MLA Markandeyan challenging the order of detention. It is noteworthy that Markandeyan had already been released on conditional bail in this case.
