'MeToo' plaint: Leena Manimekalai won't respond to summons, claims film director Susi Ganeshan’s counsel

Chennai: An undertaking given by filmmaker Leena Manimekalai’s brother that his sister will not drag on the defamation proceedings against her in a lower court initiated by Tamil film director Susi Ganeshan, is not valid in law, his counsel told the Madras High Court on Wednesday. When the petition from Manimekalai to transfer the defamation case pending against her before a local court came up for further hearing today, Ganeshan’s counsel Ilam Barathi told Justice N Sathish Kumar that Manimekalai, who had got herself entangled with legal issues over her depiction of Goddess Kali in a recent documentary, had remarked she has no faith in Indian justice delivery system. She had said India was not a safe place to live in and all this would go to show that she has no faith in the judiciary and would not respond to the summons issued by this court, he contended. Following a direction by the judge on the last occasion asking Manimekalai to give an undertaking that she would not drag the defamation case and cooperate with the lower court proceedings, it was her brother who did so, the counsel pointed out and added that the same is not legally acceptable. Though the Supreme Court in December 2021 had directed the magistrate court to complete the trial in the defamation case within four months, there was no progress in the matter. She had approached the High Court to transfer the case to some other court claiming the magistrate was biased. She was thus dragging the matter for years, he contended. The judge adjourned the matter by four weeks. Ganeshan had earlier moved the IX Metropolitan Magistrate Court at Saidapet in the city with a defamation petition against Manimekalai for her ‘MeToo’ sexual harassment allegations against him in 2019. He claimed her accusations were baseless and aimed at tarnishing his name and reputation in the film industry. He also moved the High Court with an application seeking to restrain Manimekalai and others from making any allegation against him. He had also demanded a compensation of Rs 1.10 crore to be paid collectively by the defendants. Justice Abdul Quddhose on 20 January had restrained Manimekalai and others from making or publishing defamatory statements against Ganeshan. Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.