Politics
Tamil Nadu: Social Media Commentator Kishore K Swamy Arrested For Criticising CM Stalin’s Handling Of Floods
Swarajya Staff
Nov 21, 2022, 12:50 PM | Updated 12:50 PM IST
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The Tamil Nadu Police arrested social media commentator and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) critic, Kishore K Swamy, from Pondicherry this morning (21 November).
He was arrested for his comments on Chief Minister M K Stalin’s handling of the recent floods caused by the depression in Bay of Bengal.
The Cyber Crime Unit of the Chennai Metropolitan Police had filed a complaint against him and sent him multiple notices on 5, 7, 9 and 14 November to appear before it for the purpose of investigation.
Fearing he would be arrested, Swamy filed an anticipatory bail plea in the Principal Sessions Court in Chennai.
Swamy had argued that his posts had only mentioned a friend and not anybody else. But the public prosecutor said that he was a habitual offender with many cases against him.
His plea was rejected by Justice S Alli, who said that granting anticipatory bail for non-appearance after summons would set a wrong precedent.
Earlier this month, a case was filed against him for his tweet regarding the Coimbatore blast.
Swamy was arrested in June 2021 by the Tamil Nadu Police for his ‘defamatory’ comments on Dravidian ideologue E V Ramaswamy Naicker (Periyar), former chief ministers C N Annadurai, M Karunanidhi and the current Chief Minister M K Stalin.
The arrest was done after a complaint by DMK IT Wing coordinator Ravichandran.
The Goondas Act, Sections 153, 505(1) (b) and 505 (1) (c) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) were applied against him.
In December 2021, the Madras High Court ordered his release and asked him to individually apply for bail in the other cases against him, including one for making derogatory remarks against some women journalists.
Following his release, Swamy had tweeted, saying that certain journalists, like M Gunasekaran of Sun TV and Karthigaichelavan of Puthiya Thalaimurai had called the police and asked them to ill-treat him in prison.
He said that while Gunasekaran had asked the police to keep him isolated and naked in jail, Karthigaichelvan had asked them to feed him meat.
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