Court grants bail to singer Kovan facing sedition charge

Chennai: A court in Chennai on Monday granted bail to ultra-Left propadandist folk singer Kovan who was arrested on 30 October for alleged sedition. Granting him bail, Principal Sessions Judge N Audinathan observed during the hearing that the case was not one of defamation. [caption id=“attachment_2490884” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Tamil folk singer Kovan. Twitter[/caption] The judge directed Kovan to appear before the Investigation Officer as and when required and also to furnish a personal bond of Rs 5,000 with two sureties of like sum. 54-year-old Kovan, propagandist singer of ultra-Left arts and literary outfit ‘Makkal Kalai Ilakkiya Kazhagam’, was arrested in Tiruchirapalli on 30 October for alleged sedition, uploading “defamatory” electronic content against Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and “disturbing” public peace. On 7 November, the Madras High Court had stayed a local court order remanding Kovan to two days police custody, saying it was ’erroneous.’ Justice C T Selvam had passed the interim direction at a special hearing at his residence on a petition by the singer, challenging Chief Judicial Magistrate Court’s 6 November order. The allegedly defamatory content in the form of videos were uploaded on some Tamil websites and had also gone viral in messaging mediums like Whatsapp. The content, though centred over the liquor vending policy of Tamil Nadu government, allegedly had direct references to Jayalalithaa in a bad light. The HC had said a perusal of the papers revealed that in permitting two-day custody to Kovan, the primary concern of the lower court had been the need to probe any link with Naxals. PTI