Date:10/11/2003 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2003/11/10/stories/2003111006610100.htm

Southern States - Tamil Nadu

`Deafening silence in Speaker's statement'

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI NOV. 9. There is a "deafening silence" in the Speaker, K. Kalimuthu's statement on the submission of The Hindu's Editor, N. Ravi, seeking to be ``heard in person'' by the Privileges Committee, the Editor-in-Chief of The Hindu, N. Ram, said here today.

Reacting to the statement, Mr. Ram told mediapersons that the last sentence of Mr. Ravi's 14-page response to a notice issued by the Assembly on the privilege issue stated that if the Committee was not satisfied with his explanation, he was ready to appear before the panel. "Natural justice, among others, required that he should have been given the opportunity. But the Speaker's statement is deafeningly silent on this vital point," he pointed out, responding to a query on Mr. Kalimuthu's reference to the reply of The Hindu. Mr. Ram added that it was not the business of the Speaker to take a dig at the media. "He has made defamatory statements (against the media)".