M K Stalin summoned by court in defamation case

CHENNAI: A court here today issued summons to DMK Treasurer M K Stalin to appear before a court on September 9 in a criminal defamation case filed against him by Chief Minister Jayalalithaa for his remarks while protesting the eviction of his party members from Tamil Nadu assembly on July 22.

Principal Sessions Judge Audinathan issued the summons taking on note the case filed by city Public Prosecutor M L Jagan on behalf of the Chief Minister. He submitted DMK MLAs, including Stalin, were evicted enmasse on July 22 from the assembly for disrupting the proceedings.

Talking to reporters outside the assembly, Stalin, the leader of the DMK legislature party, had said the Chief Minister, her cabinet colleagues and the Assembly Speaker dislike the presence of DMK in the House.

He further said the Speaker was acting like a dictator. Later, the DMK MLAs shouted slogans "Dictator Chief Minister and Speaker down, down."

This was treated as defamation by the Chief Minister. The Judge also issued summons for the appearance of CPI-M leader G.Ramakrishnan on September 9 in another defamation case filed on behalf of the Chief Minister.