Madras High Court grants anticipatory bail to Chennai Press Club president, two other journalists

Chennai Press Club president M. Suresh Vedhanayagam

The Madras High Court on Wednesday (November 4, 2026) granted anticipatory bail to Chennai Press Club president M. Suresh Vedhanayagam and two other journalists D. Prakash and and S. Sarath Kumar in a criminal case booked against them by the Vepery police in Chennai for allegedly projecting a fellow journalist R. Kathiravan as an extortionist in WhatsApp groups.

Justice N. Ramesh granted the relief on condition that all three of them must appear before the investigating officer every day until further orders. He also said: “It is unfortunate that journalism, in the hands of those who hold office in its associations, has come down to this level. Their standing in the profession is a reason for restraint; it is not a ground for protection.”

Pointing out that the petitioners had sought advance bail by projecting their profession in the forefront though their act had nothing to do with journalism, the judge said: “The first petitioner describes his election as president of the Press Club as a ‘testament to my good reputation and sincerity in my profession,’ and each petitioner pleads that his reputation and career would be spoiled.”

Justice Ramesh went on to state: “A message passed around in WhatsApp groups, accusing a fellow journalist of extortion, is not the publication of news to the public, whatever be its source and whether or not it is true. It is a quarrel among members of the profession, carried on in a medium where an accusation travels fast and is seldom corrected; and the complainant, himself a journalist, has answered it with a criminal case against his colleagues.”

He also said: “The freedom of the press is a freedom to inform the public. It does not attach to a person by reason of his calling when the act in question has nothing to do with informing the public, and it is not a licence to settle scores.”

The judge ordered that the petitioners shall be released on bail in the event of their arrest or their appearance before a Metropolitan Magistate in Egmore, Chennai within 15 days from the date when the court order copy gets ready. He further directed them to execute a bond for ₹25,000 each with two sureties for the likesum to the satisfaction of the magistrate.

If the petitioners fail to surrender before the Magistrate concerned within 15 days, the anticipatory bail shall stand cancelled automatically, the judge said. It was made clear that a fresh First Information Report (FIR) under Section 269 (failure of a person released on bail to appear in court) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) could be registered if the petitioners abscond.

The relief of advance bail was granted after being convinced that the case does not require the custodial interrogation of the petitioners since they had already appeared once for a police inquiry when the mobile phones of the first and the third accused were seized and sent for forensic examination. The judge rejected all the objections raised by the police for the grant of anticipatory bail.