Non-bailable warrants issued against Suriya, Sathyaraj, 6 other actors

A court in Ooty has issued non-bailable arrest warrants against actors Suriya, Sathyaraj, Sarath Kumar, Vivekh, Vijayakumar, Arun Vijay, Cheran and Sripriya for failing to appear in court in connection with a defamation case filed against them by a journalist.

According to sources, the case was filed by Rozario Susai after the actors indulged in slander and abused journalists and their family members while delivering speeches at a specially convened meeting at the Nadigar Sangam in 2009.

The speeches were delivered at a time the actors had taken exception to a particular report that had appeared in a leading vernacular newspaper.

Rozario then filed a defamation case against those actors who had delivered such speeches under Section 200 of the CrPC.

The actors, for their part, approached the Madras high court with petitions urging the court to quash the petition seeking action against them for the defamatory speeches. However, their petitions were dismissed, media reports claimed.

Following this, the Mmagistrate court in Ooty issued orders for all the eight actors to present themselves in court. As they had failed to do so, the judge, while adjourning the case till 17 June, issued non-bailable arrest warrants against all eight actors.