DMK IT wing’s Divya Sathyaraj files ₹1-crore defamation case against actor Bayilvan Ranganathan before Madras High Court

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Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) Information Technology (IT) wing deputy secretary Divya Sathyaraj has filed a ₹1-crore defamation suit against actor Bayilvan Ranganathan and YouTube channel Puthiya Sinthanai for having reportedly made defamatory statements against her after she expressed certain personal views on the institution of marriage in an interview given to another YouTube channel.

Justice K. Govindarajan Thilakavadi on Thursday (September 24, 2026) restrained the actor, as well as Google LLC, Facebook India Online Services Private Limited, and X Corp, from allowing the dissemination of the objectionable statements, either on YouTube or on other social media platforms. The judge was convinced that the plaintiff’s counsel D. Ravichander had made out a prima facie case for the grant of interim injunction.

The judge wrote that the plaintiff, being a nutritionist involved in politics and social activities, would suffer irreparable loss to her reputation and goodwill if an interim injunction as sought by her was not granted, pending disposal of her defamation suit seeking damages. After going through the defamatory statements, she also said the balance of convenience was in favour of the plaintiff.

In her interview, Ms. Sathyaraj had opined that a couple should reside together because of the love they have for each other and not because of the compulsion of having got married to each other. “They should be together because they are crazy about each other, not because they are married... I don’t belive 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.”

Pursuant to her interview, the plaintiff’s father and actor Sathyaraj released a video on his social media accounts endorsing the views expressed by his daughter.

Claiming that Mr. Ranganthan had, however, responded to her interview by making false and defamatory statements, the plaintiff sought a direction to the actor, as well as the proprietor of Puthiya Sinthanai YouTube channel Mohideen, to jointly pay her damages of ₹1 crore, along with interest at the rate of 12% from the date of the filing of the suit till the date of realisation of the amount.

She also sought a permanent and interim injunction restraining Mr. Ranganathan from making, writing, publishing, or broadcasting such defamatory statements in the future and urged the court to grant an interim injunction restraining the three multinational corporations from continuing to host the objectionable interview on their social media platforms.

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