ADMK govt continues suppressing dissent-goes to SC to quash HC order refusing custody of Kovan despite protests against his arrest

In November 2015, the AIADMK government approached the Supreme Court to challenge a Madras High Court order that had refused police custody of radical folk artist Kovan, who had been arrested under charges of sedition for performing songs criticizing state liquor sales. Strongly condemning this move, DMK Treasurer M. K. Stalin decried the administration's relentless determination to crush political dissent and artistic freedom of expression. He pointed out that despite widespread public outrage, civil society protests, and clear judicial warnings against misusing colonial-era sedition statutes, the state government stubbornly pursued punitive measures against a folk artist who merely gave voice to popular grievances against TASMAC alcohol policies. Stalin emphasized that using police custody and draconian penal laws to intimidate singers and social activists revealed the authoritarian intolerance of the ruling party. He declared that an administration incapable of tolerating peaceful creative critique forfeited its moral right to govern. Stalin called upon democratic organizations, legal advocates, and civil liberties groups to unite in resisting the regime's unconstitutional overreach and defending fundamental essential civil liberties and progressive constitutional democracy across Tamil Nadu.