New Delhi, Aug. 24: The Supreme Court today berated the Jayalalithaa government for using state machinery to file defamation cases against political opponents and asked her to file cases in a personal capacity if at all she was aggrieved.

"If you want, you can have a one-to-one fight," a bench of Justices Dipak Misra and R.F. Nariman told senior counsel Rakesh Dwivedi who appeared for the Jayalalithaa government in Tamil Nadu.

"There has to be a healthy democracy. Here it is a case of state public prosecutor filing cases. The state is controlling the prosecution. Somebody criticises when you are a public figure. You have a right to be criticised. But here you are utilising the state machinery," the bench said.

"You can't slap defamation cases on people for reporting on the chief minister's health condition. As a public figure, you must face criticism. You fight on a personal level," Justice Misra, heading the bench, told Dwivedi during the hearing.

In an affidavit, the Tamil Nadu government has revealed that during the past five years, it had filed as many as 213 defamation cases against political opponents.

The Jayalalithaa government has slapped over two dozen cases against DMDK leader Vijaykant for criticising her and the AIADMK administration on various issue. Vijaykant then approached the apex court.

In particular, he has challenged the constitutional validity of Section 199 of the CrPC, which empowers a public prosecutor to file a defamation case against any person on behalf of the chief minister or a public servant who feels defamed.

Besides Vijaykant, several Opposition leaders have accused the Jayalalithaa government of "indiscriminately" filing defamation cases against them for even bona fide criticism of the government and its policies.

It has been alleged that the public prosecutors in the state routinely file defamation cases against Opposition leaders.

"We had upheld the constitutionality of the defamation law despite the argument that it's being misused. There has to be a healthy democracy. People can joke," Justice Misra observed.

Justice Misra noted that it was perhaps only the Tamil Nadu government that was using Section 199 of the CrPC to file defamation cases against political opponents as there are no complaints from other states.

According to G.S. Mani, the counsel for Vijaykant, defamation cases have been filed by the government at the drop of a hat.

Of the 213 cases during the past five years, 55 are against journalists and media organisations, 85 against the principal Opposition DMK, while Vijaykant's DMDK is facing 48 cases, which include 28 personal complaints against him.

BJP leader Subramanian Swamy has five cases against him for tweeting against the Jayalalithaa government. The PMK has nine cases and the Congress seven.