Kochi (Kerala) : A court Friday issued summons to the Madyamam newspaper in a defamation case filed by Malayala Manorama chief editor K.M. Mathew. The Ernakulam first class judicial magistrate asked respondent Madyamam and its editor and others to appear before it Oct 3.
This is the second newspaper that Manorama has taken to court in the past one week. Last week the same court had issued summons against Deshabhimani, the official organ of the state unit of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) for appearance on Sep 29.
Both the cases are related to Manorama's alleged association with a gone-bust hire purchase company and "defamatory" articles on the issue appearing in Deshabhimani and Madyamam.
The company, Integrated Finance Company Ltd (IFCL) had allegedly been backed by Manorama, and investors had called up the newspaper in distress when IFCL went broke and failed to return their money.
According to a Manorama release, these articles include serious imputations against Manorama and its chief editor Mathew. The Manorama petition said the reports were incorrect and "only intended to malign the good name and reputation of both Manorama and Mathew".
"Apart from the fact that a few shares were taken by Manorama at the time of IFCL's incorporation, the complainant (Mathew) and Manorama do not have any control over the affairs and day-to-day management of IFCL" a release from Manorama said.
The complaint against Madyamam involved its editor O. Abdurehman, printer and publisher P.A. Abdul Hakeem and others. The complaint against Deshabhimani is that it has been continuously publishing highly defamatory news and "concocted reports" and editorials against Manorama for the last several years.
Manorama has prayed for the prosecution of CPI-M state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan, Deshabhimani printer and publisher E.P. Jayarajan, editor V.V. Dakshina Moorthy and others.
The Press Council of India in its Chennai sitting Thursday had acknowledged a complaint against Manorama in the same IFCL issue and is studying the details of the complaint.
