The State on Monday dubbed New Delhi-based journalist Mathew Samuel, who released a video recently alleging Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami’s involvement in the 2017 Kodanad murder-cum-heist, as a blackmailer known for making videos to extort money from influential people.

State Public Prosecutor A. Natarajan made the submission before Justice G.K. Ilanthiraiyan, who reserved his judgment on a petition filed by K. V. Sayan, 37, and Manoj alias Vayalar Manoj, 42, against cancellation of bail granted to them in the murder case after they gave interviews to the journalist.

Filing a detailed counter-affidavit justifying the cancellation by a sessions court in Nilgiris district, the SPP said the two accused were guilty of perjury since they had obtained bail in 2017 by claiming to be innocents but had gone on record in the video to allege that the crime took place at the behest of the Chief Minister.

Such an allegation levelled by them after about 22 months since the crime took place and especially when the case was pending at the stage of framing of charges, against the accused, amounted to abuse of liberty granted to them by the trial court besides being a clear interference with the administration of justice, he added.

A parallel trial by media influences the witnesses as well as public opinion. Since the trial court judges were also humans, there was also a possibility of them being unconsciously influenced if such videos with “wild” allegations were allowed to be shot and circulated in the public domain, the prosecution claimed.

Further, stating that both Sayan and Manoj had admitted that they had never met the Chief Minister and their only claim now was that the co-accused Kanagaraj (since dead) had told them about the involvement of Mr. Palaniswami, the SPP said, such claim was purely hearsay and hence not admissible in evidence before a court of law.

The prosecution also accused the present petitioners of having indulged in forum shopping by filing a criminal original petition in the High Court against the cancellation of their bail though, in normal course, they should have filed only a revision petition which would have got listed before Justice P. Velmurugan as per the current portfolio.