HC quashes defamation case against eight Tamil actors

The Madras High Court today quashed a defamation case against eight popular Tamil film actors, pending in Udhagamandalam court in Nilgiris district.
Justice M V Muralidharan scrapped the defamation case against the actiors on a petition by them seeking quashing of the case filed on a complaint by a journalist accusing them of making defamatory statements against scribes in October 2009.
The actors who got the relief included Sathyaraj, Surya, Cheran, Vijayakumar, Sarathkumar, Vivek, Sripriya and Arun Vijayakunmar.
The case against them was filed in the court of judicial magistrate by Udhagamandalam-based journalist Rozario Mariya Susai.
He had sought prosecution of the actors for alleged defamatory remarks made by them while speaking on a Tamil daily coverage of the arrest of an actress in 2009 on charges of indulgence in sleazy activities.

In May this year, the high court had stayed the non- bailable warrants against the actors for failure to appear before the lower court.
The actors' petition earlier was dismissed in March for default as none appeared on behalf of either the actors or the complainant when it came up for hearing, following which the magisterial court had issued the warrants.
The actors' plea, however, was revived after they filed a common affidavit praying for the restoration of the petition seeking quashing of the case.