Political Commentator Ponraj Moves Madras High Court To Quash FIR Over Remarks On TVK Women Supporters

Political commentator V Ponraj has approached the Madras High Court seeking to quash a case registered against him for allegedly defamatory statements made by him against women supporters of the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) party.

Justice GK Ilanthiraiyan listed the matter on June 17 (Wednesday).

It may be noted that a vacation bench of the High Court had granted anticipatory bail to Ponraj in connection with the same case, noting that a custodial interrogation might not be necessary. The court had, however, stated that Ponraj should have been more careful while making statements in public, understanding the potential impact of his words and how it would be received by the public.

It is alleged that on March 27, 2026, while giving an interview to a YouTube channel, when asked about the conduct of certain members of TVK Women's wing online, Ponraj made highly derogatory remarks against women supporters of TVK. TVK President and Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Joseph Vijay had also condemned the remarks and sought action against Ponraj.

Based on a complaint made by Thiruparankundram MLA and current Energy Resource and Law Minister Nirmal Kumar, a case was registered for offences under Section 79, 296(b) of BNS and Section 67 of the IT Act. Seeking to quash this FIR, Ponraj has now approached the High Court.

In his plea, Ponraj argued that the FIR is illegal, incorrect, and devoid of merits. It is submitted that even if the FIR is taken to be true, no prima facie case is made out against Ponraj and the case is an abuse of the process of law.

Ponraj submitted that he had written to the Commissioner of Police, explaining the situation in which he made the comment. It was also argued that even before the registration of the FIR, the alleged video was removed from the YouTube Channel.

Ponraj submitted that he had not made any derogatory statements against women but only explained that women were being misled by their leaders. However, he argued that the complainant had selectively extracted, edited, and misrepresented a specific portion of his interview and sought criminal action against him.

Ponraj also submitted that after the interview, the members of TVK had orchestrated a social media campaign against him and threatening calls were made against him and his family. He argued that although he had filed a police complaint against TVK head Chief Minister Vijay and party leaders Aadhav Arjuna, Rajmohan, Loyola Mani, and Nanjil Sampath for criminal intimidation, cybercrime, and defamation, no action had been taken to date.

Ponraj argued that the case was a clear misuse of political power as a tool of political vendetta, to silence legitimate political criticism which was protected under free speech under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution.

Thus, Ponraj has sought to quash the FIR.

Case Title: Ponraj v State and Another

Case No: Crl OP 15258 of 2026