Tamil Nadu Raj Bhavan Slams ‘Yellow Journalism’ By Nakkeeran; Says Governor Has No Role In Sex Scandal 

The Tamil Nadu Raj Bhavan has strongly denied any role in the recent sex scandal case, in which Nirmala Devi, an assistant professor with Madurai Kamaraj University, was earlier arrested on the charge that she lured students into giving sexual favours to university officials. Raj Bhavan has firmly said that the accused never visited the Governor’s House. A Tamil weekly called Nakkeeran published a report that linked the case with the Governor of Tamil Nadu, Banwarilal Purohit. Rubbishing the report, Raj Bhavan called it ‘yellow journalism’.

Nakkeeran’s editor R Gopal was arrested four days ago and has been charged for “Assaulting President, Governor etc with an intent to compel or restrain the exercise of any lawful power” under Section 123, The Indian Express reported. Soon after the arrest, bail was granted to him in Chennai.

The allegation was that Nirmala Devi visited a guest house at Mother Theresa University where the Governor was staying, since he was attending a convocation ceremony. But Raj Bhavan has made it clear that the Governor has “at no point of time stayed in the guest house.”

Devi was earlier stung with an audio clip wherein she was heard asking young women in her college to “adjust” with a few officials from the university.

The Raj Bhavan has, in a statement, said, “It is a matter of regret that such utter falsehood and this kind of yellow journalism is being supported by respectable people who, it appears, are not aware of the facts… There is only absolute falsehood and not a shred of truthfulness in the links attributed to the Governor or the Raj Bhavan to the issue concerning a college assistant professor of Aruppukottai, known by the name of Nirmala Devi. The statement given by her before the police will itself bear out the truth.”

“It is a matter of humour to hear people say that press freedom is being threatened on the count of action being taken under the law after much patience and tolerance to stop a slanderous, vulgar and cowardly way of attacking the first citizen of the state,” it added.