# Stalin denies liability for DMK wings’ social media posts in defamation suit 2026-09-22T14:42:41+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 2 independent outlets DMK president MK Stalin has told the Madras High Court that he cannot be held legally responsible for every social media post published by the party's various wings or functionaries. The submission was made in a counter-affidavit opposing interim relief in a Rs 1 crore defamation suit filed by Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) minister Aadhav Arjuna. Arjuna sued Stalin and the DMK IT Wing over a June 8 post that linked him to John Britto, an accused in a Rs 258 crore drug trafficking case. Arjuna has denied any connection, saying his relative with a similar name had complained to police about being wrongly identified. Stalin denied instructing or approving the post and argued Arjuna failed to show loss of reputation, citing pending criminal cases against Arjuna's family members. Stalin also argued the post had been removed, making the interim application infructuous, and warned that restraining criticism of a minister would chill political speech. Justice K Govindarajan Thilakavadi took the submissions on record and adjourned the matter to October 26. ## Indian Opinion Analysis Both barandbench.com and hindustantimes.com report the same core facts neutrally, but barandbench.com gives more space to Stalin's freedom-of-speech argument and his call for exemplary costs, while hindustantimes.com foregrounds Stalin's references to criminal cases against Arjuna's family. Neither outlet adopts a stance, both simply relay the legal filings. The key difference is framing emphasis: barandbench leads with the principle of limited liability, hindustantimes leads with the specific denial. The balanced reading is that Stalin is mounting a dual defence, denying personal involvement and attacking Arjuna's standing to claim reputational harm. The next hearing is on October 26. The next hearing is on October 26. ## Coverage - barandbench.com (neutral report) Straight report of legal filings, no editorial slant - hindustantimes.com (neutral report) Straight report of legal filings, no editorial slant Tags: Aadhav Arjuna, defamation, DMK, Madras High Court, MK Stalin Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/stalin-denies-liability-for-dmk-wings-social-media-posts-in-defamation-suit/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/stalin-denies-liability-for-dmk-wings-social-media-posts-in-defamation-suit/#story-in-brief