S SHANMUGHAM Vs. M NATARAJAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This Writ Petition has been filed by one S. Shanmugham alias Shyam for issue of a writ of habeas corpus to direct the respondents to produce the body of Tmt. Jayalalitha, leader of the opposition in Tamil Nadu State Legislative Assembly now held in illegal confinement of the first respondent or his men before this Court and set her at liberty and allow her to act on her free will and freedom.

(2.) The petitioner is the printer and publisher and editor of 'Tharasu', which is claimed to be a leading political and social weekly and this writ petition has been filed as a public interest litigation on the basis of certain information gathered by press reporters.

(3.) The brief facts narrated in the affidavit filed in support of this writ petition are as follows : Tmt. Jayalalitha is the leader of the opposition in the Tamil Nadu State Legislative Assembly and the General Secretary of A.I.A.D.M.K. party. She is kept in illegal confinement by one Third. Natarajan, the first respondent herein against her will. His men and women are keeping her in illegal confinement in her house at Veda Nilayam, No. 36, Poes Garden, Madras or elsewhere. Thiru Natarajan makes it appear that she is seriously ill and taking treatment at the Jindal Institute of Naturopathy and Yogic Sciences in Tumkur Road, Bangalore. But according to the investigation of the press reporters, she is not there. Thiru, Natarajan who is an Officer of the State Government is now under suspension. He held the post of Deputy Director of Information in the Government of Tamil Nadu and as such he should remain faithful to the Government without engaging in trade. In violation of the rules and norms, he engaged himself as the Advisor of Tmt. Jayalalitha and stayed in her house day and night ignoring his official propriety. His wife Sasikala is a friend of Tmt. Jayalalitha and they have enigmatic relationship which nobody could guess. The entire house of Tmt. Jayalalitha is under the control of Thiru. Natarajan and he does not allow anybody to see her. According to the petitioner, no politician can live without seeing partymen, press people and the public. If a politician is isolated from the public and the press, he will die. She is stated to be ill and she is kept in illegal confinement and isolated from the partymen and press men. The petitioner claims that she is a prisoner in the hands of Thiru Natarajan. It is further stated that he has developed animosity against her after his arrest, as the popularity in the A.I.A.D.M.K. party is on the vane. All the party men feel that he keeps her in illegal confinement with a view to get her signatures on statements, which may be used later for his advantage in the cases filed against him and to boost his image. As the leader of the opposition, Smt. Jayalalitha owes a right to speak on public and political issues in the State of Tamil Nadu and the people of the State have a right to know her views on the said issues. The press owes a duty to meet her and to ascertain her views on several public and political issues. But every time the press reporters approach her they are disposed of by Thiru Natarajan arrogating himself that he is the boss of Smt. Jayalalitha. The press reporters and the petitioner's weekly are unable to get any information on her from 1st May, 1989. Though it was stated that she was admitted in the said hospital at Bangalore, the petitioners reporters found that she was not there. The leaders of the party are also not in a position to know about her whereabouts. The Police is taking an uncared attitude, in this connection in view of the earlier resignation letter of her own. The petitioner apprehends that she is confined in her own house by Thiru Natarajan and she is facing danger to her life. Hence the present writ petition.