Coming down hard on CTR Nirmal Kumar, a senior BJP leader in Tamil Nadu who is the in-charge of the party's IT wing, the Madras High Court on Thursday - November 17 passed an order restraining him from making statements against DMK Minister Senthil Balaji. The order has come based on the latter's plea that sought an injunction against the BJP leader.

Pronouncing the interim order, Justice CV Karthikeyan made the order of injunction against Nirmal Kumar from making any defamatory tweets or statements against Senthil Balaji, who is serving as Tamil Nadu Minister for Electricity, Prohibition & Excise. Condemning the conduct of the BJP leader, Senthil Balaji has also demanded payment of Rs 2 crores from Nirmal Kumar for causing damage to his reputation. 

Appearing from Senthil Balaji, senior advocate P Wilson argued that BJP's Nirmal Kumar was running a smear campaign against the DMK Minister for the past several months by incessantly spreading false and defaming statements against him over political reasons. Wilson said that Nirmal Kumar's remarks have tarnished Senthil Balaji's reputation and these comments were made with no evidence.

Floating several allegations against Senthil Balaji, Nirmal Kumar has recently alleged that Senthil Balaji was involved in the illegal sale of liquor above the Maximum Retail Price (MRP) along with the involvement of the Revenue department and the state-run Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation Limited (TASMAC) officials. 

According to PTI, Wilson said, "The intention was to defame and tarnish his (Senthil Balaji's) personal and professional reputation. Nirmal Kumar was not engaging in any constructive criticism or political opposition but is only defaming through vexatious and slanderous allegations without any basis. No material evidence has been disclosed for his defamation campaign during the last six months."

"In fact, even when a legal notice was issued to cease and desist, instead of giving an explanation/ justification for the accusations, Nirmal Kumar tweeted about the notice with further false and defamatory statements", Wilson added. Following his arguments, Justice Karthikeyan passed the order of awarding an injunction to Nirmal Kumar, refraining from making defamatory statements against Senthil Balaji.