DMK's Divya Sathyaraj Sues Actor for ₹1 Cr Defamation Over Marriage Views
DMK's Divya Sathyaraj Sues Actor for ₹1 Cr Defamation Over Marriage Views
A ₹1 crore defamation suit rocks the legal world as DMK's Divya Sathyaraj takes actor Bayilvan Ranganathan to court over alleged false statements. Social media platforms also restrained!
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) IT wing deputy secretary Divya Sathyaraj has initiated a significant legal battle, filing a ₹1 crore defamation lawsuit against actor Bayilvan Ranganathan. The suit, lodged before the Madras High Court, alleges that Ranganathan made defamatory statements against her after she shared personal views on marriage during a YouTube interview.
Justice K. Govindarajan Thilakavadi has acted swiftly, issuing an interim injunction on Thursday, September 24, 2026. This order restrains Ranganathan, as well as tech giants Google LLC (YouTube), Facebook India, and X Corp (formerly Twitter), from further disseminating the objectionable content on their platforms.
The court found a prima facie case, indicating the plaintiff has a strong initial argument.
The core of the dispute stems from an interview where Ms.
Sathyaraj, a nutritionist and active figure in politics and social work, expressed her belief that couples should stay together out of love, not merely marital obligation. She stated, "They should be together because they are crazy about each other, not because they are married...
I don't believe in this corporate wedding of getting married on the basis of religion, horoscope, and so on. In fact, I don't have a horoscope at all because my father does not believe in such things." Her father, actor Sathyaraj, later publicly supported her views in a social media video.
However, Ms. Sathyaraj claims that Mr. Ranganathan responded to her interview with false and defamatory statements.
She is seeking ₹1 crore in damages, along with 12% interest from the suit's filing date until the amount is realized.
Additionally, she requests a permanent injunction to prevent Mr.
Ranganathan from making similar statements in the future and an interim injunction against the social media platforms from hosting the contested content.
The court recognized that not granting the injunction would cause irreparable harm to her reputation and goodwill, noting that the balance of convenience lies with the plaintiff.
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