A special court in Chennai, handling cases involving MPs and MLAs, convicted BJP leader H Raja on Monday, sentencing him to six months in prison in two separate criminal defamation cases. However, Special Judge J Jayavel suspended the sentence for 30 days, granting Raja’s legal team the opportunity to appeal the verdict in the high court.
The charges stemmed from derogatory comments made by Raja in 2018 about Periyar, former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, and Tuticorin MP M Kanimozhi. FIRs were registered against him under sections 500 (criminal defamation), 501 (printing or engraving defamatory material), 502 (sale of defamatory material), 153 (inciting a riot), and 504 (provoking a breach of peace) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
In August 2023, the Madras High Court had dismissed Raja’s plea to quash the FIRs, including those for defamation.
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