<p>Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker M Appavu on Thursday referred to the Privileges Committee a breach of privilege against popular Tamil daily Dinamalar for "denigrating" Finance Minister P T R Palanivel Thiaga Rajan and other members of the House in its coverage of the Budget presented on March 20. </p>.<p>DMK MLA Saba Rajendran, TVK legislator T Velmurugan, and Congress Legislature Party leader K Selvaperunthagai raised the issue of Dinamalar’s coverage of the budget, saying the newspaper was crossing its limits by defaming the minister who has done an “excellent job.” </p>.<p>The members referred to the front page headline of Dinamalar on March 21 which said, “Scratching his head, and fumbling…The finance minister completed his budget speech.” </p>.<p>They said the article was not just defamatory to Thiaga Rajan but also to other ministers and legislators who were accused of sleeping in the Assembly whereas they were just looking at the screen of the tablet which was placed before their seat. The newspaper had carried a picture circling the faces of ministers alleging that they were sleeping.</p>.<p>Selvaperunthagai demanded that the Speaker send the issue to the Privileges Committee. In his response, Speaker Appavu said prima facie, the issue appeared to attract breach of privilege. “I am hereby referring the issue to the Privileges Committee under Rule 226 of the Tamil Nadu Assembly,” Appavu added. </p>.<p>The development comes amid public criticism of the newspaper for its headline on social media, especially Twitter. The Tamil Nadu Assembly had in the past jailed journalists for breach of privilege of the House – in April 1987 during M G Ramachandran’s tenure as CM, sentenced S Balasubramanian, editor of popular Tamil magazine Ananda Vikatan, to undergo three months' rigorous imprisonment for "violating the privileges of the House."</p>.<p>In 2003, the then Speaker K Kalimuthu had declared a jail term for five journalists, including the editor and publisher of The Hindu and Editor of DMK mouthpiece Murasoli. However, the jail terms of the journalists were stayed by the Supreme Court. The journalists were given punishment for a series of articles on the functioning of the Assembly and then chief minister J Jayalalithaa in the House.</p>
<p>Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker M Appavu on Thursday referred to the Privileges Committee a breach of privilege against popular Tamil daily Dinamalar for "denigrating" Finance Minister P T R Palanivel Thiaga Rajan and other members of the House in its coverage of the Budget presented on March 20. </p>.<p>DMK MLA Saba Rajendran, TVK legislator T Velmurugan, and Congress Legislature Party leader K Selvaperunthagai raised the issue of Dinamalar’s coverage of the budget, saying the newspaper was crossing its limits by defaming the minister who has done an “excellent job.” </p>.<p>The members referred to the front page headline of Dinamalar on March 21 which said, “Scratching his head, and fumbling…The finance minister completed his budget speech.” </p>.<p>They said the article was not just defamatory to Thiaga Rajan but also to other ministers and legislators who were accused of sleeping in the Assembly whereas they were just looking at the screen of the tablet which was placed before their seat. The newspaper had carried a picture circling the faces of ministers alleging that they were sleeping.</p>.<p>Selvaperunthagai demanded that the Speaker send the issue to the Privileges Committee. In his response, Speaker Appavu said prima facie, the issue appeared to attract breach of privilege. “I am hereby referring the issue to the Privileges Committee under Rule 226 of the Tamil Nadu Assembly,” Appavu added. </p>.<p>The development comes amid public criticism of the newspaper for its headline on social media, especially Twitter. The Tamil Nadu Assembly had in the past jailed journalists for breach of privilege of the House – in April 1987 during M G Ramachandran’s tenure as CM, sentenced S Balasubramanian, editor of popular Tamil magazine Ananda Vikatan, to undergo three months' rigorous imprisonment for "violating the privileges of the House."</p>.<p>In 2003, the then Speaker K Kalimuthu had declared a jail term for five journalists, including the editor and publisher of The Hindu and Editor of DMK mouthpiece Murasoli. However, the jail terms of the journalists were stayed by the Supreme Court. The journalists were given punishment for a series of articles on the functioning of the Assembly and then chief minister J Jayalalithaa in the House.</p>