Kannur police file cases over alleged defamatory remarks against Rahul Gandhi, CM, and MLA

The police have registered cases in Kannur over alleged defamatory remarks about Congress leader and the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, social media posts targeting Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan, and a fabricated Facebook post to defame Kannur MLA T.O. Mohanan.

The Kannur Town police have registered a case against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader K. Sreekanth following a complaint filed by Mr. Mohanan over remarks made at a public meeting that allegedly defamed Mr. Gandhi and the Congress party.

The complaint alleged the speech aimed to provoke conflict between Congress and BJP workers and incite public unrest, and that personal attacks on Mr. Gandhi and remarks about his public life violated decency and responsibility in democratic politics.

In a separate case, the cyber police registered a case against two Facebook account holders for allegedly posting and commenting on content intended to defame Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan. The case was registered against a Facebook account operating under the name Shaiju Kannur, which allegedly posted a derogatory image of the Chief Minister on Vijayadashami Day, showing him initiating a child into learning, and another account holder, Shahjahan, who allegedly posted a comment below it including the remark, “May God protect the child.”

According to the complaint, the content was intended to defame the Chief Minister and provoke Congress workers, potentially leading to unrest. The police registered the case following a report received from the cyber division SP.

The complaint maintained that political disagreement could not be used as a justification for defaming individuals and that public figures were expected to exercise restraint and responsibility in their statement and conduct.

Meanwhile, Kannur City Police registered another case against BJP leader Jiju Vijayan for allegedly creating and circulating a fabricated social media post targeting Mr. Mohanan.

According to the MLA’s complaint, on October 10, the accused allegedly circulated a fabricated Facebook post under the headline “If SIR is wrong, T.O. Mohanan should resign”. The post purportedly showed a person holding a board bearing the sticker “Illegal MLA” and was allegedly designed to defame the legislator and provoke unrest.

The police registered the case based on Mr. Mohanan’s complaint. The allegations in all three cases are yet to be established.