New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday stayed defamation proceedings against Vijayakanth, founder President of Desia Murpoku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) and his wife Premalatha for their speech relating to Chennai floods, alleged to be defamatory to the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, J Jayalalithaa.
A Bench of Justices Dipak Misra and Shiva Kirti Singh, after hearing counsel G.S. Mani, also stayed the summons issued by the Principal Judge Dharmapuri and the Principal Judge Chennai for their appearance in the court on March 24 and 25 respectively in connection with the two defamation cases.
The Bench issued notice to the Tamil Nadu government seeking its response to the petition. In the fresh writ petition Vijayakanth said the court had already reserved verdict on a batch of petitions challenging the validity of Sections 199 (2) Cr.P.C (relating to sanction for prosecution), 499 & 500 IPC (relating to criminal defamation).
