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Thirty years after Sun TV aired interview footage of notorious smuggler Veerappan making defamatory claims about actor Sukanya, the Madras High Court directed the channel to pay Rs 10 lakh in damages on June 8.
In 1996, Veerappan made derogatory statements linking Sukanya to a politician’s relative during his interview with journalist Nakheeran R Gopal that was aired on Sun TV.
The same year, saying the statements were untrue and had caused serious damage to her reputation, career and personal life, Sukanya approached the Madras High Court. The case was transferred to a civil court in 2011.
The civil court ruled in Sukanya’s favour in 2015, directing Sun TV to pay her Rs 10 lakh in damages. Sun TV, however, appealed the civil court’s order.
On June 8, the Madras High Court dismissed Sun TV’s appeal and upheld the civil court’s verdict.
Justice K Kumaresh Babu observed that the channel had the authority to edit the interview before airing it and failed to exercise that right. The court also held that the channel had failed to verify Veerappan’s claims.
The court also noted that Sun TV had previously expressed regret only through a third-party magazine.
According to Live Law, the judge observed that had Sun TV expressed their regret on their own channel, it would have reached the same audiences who had viewed Veerappan's remarks. “This itself would show malice … in only opting to give a regret in a third-party magazine, which was also not substantiated to have wider reach than its [own] viewers,” the judge reportedly said.
Reacting to the verdict, playback singer Chinnayi Sripaada said on X, “Sad she gets whatever is the semblance of justice after ONLY 30 LOOOONG years (sic).”
This article was written by a student interning with TNM.