A district court in the Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu has issued arrest warrants against director Bala and actor Arya, after the two failed to appear for a hearing in a case filed by Shankar Aathmajan Ambai, the son of zamindar Theerthapathi Raja.
Ambai, in his plea, had claimed that director Bala, in his film Avan Ivan (2011), had depicted Theerthapathi Raja, the zamindar of Singampatti, and the Sorimuthu Iyyanaar temple in poor light. He had sought appropriate action against the director of the film, Bala, the producer of the film, Kalpathi S Aghoram, and Arya, one of the lead actors in the film.
The court had, on 20 June, cleared the producer of the film, Aghoram of all the charges levelled against him. Bala and Arya, were, however, given copies of the chargesheets against them.
When the case came up for hearing again, Bala and Arya failed to present themselves before the court even as petitions were filed on their behalf on the occasion. Dismissing these petitions that were filed on their behalf, the judge, Muralidharan, posted the matter for hearing on 13 July and ordered arrest warrants against the duo.