Non-bailable warrant issued against Suriya, Sathyaraj and six other Tamil actors

A a non-bailable arrest warrant against eight Tamil film actors, including Suriya, Sathyaraj, R Sarathkumar and Sripriya, for their failure to appear before it in connection with a defamation case filed by a freelance journalist, reports Times of India. 

Suriya, Sathyaraj. Image via Creative Commons

The non bailable warrant was issued in Ooty on Tuesday, 23 May, by a judicial magistrate.

The hassle started when a Tamil daily carried a report in 2009 that alleged that an actress had raised charges of prostitution on a group of fellow actors and actresses. Following strong protests from the film fraternity, the newspaper had retracted the report and published an apology.

However the actors later spoke out against the publication and abused the journalists associated with the story at the South Indian Film Artistes Association meeting on 21 October  2009, reports The Hindu. 

Following this, a senior freelance correspondent, Rozario Mariya Susai, had filed a private complaint with the Ooty Judicial magistrate against them under Section 200 (Examination of complaint by Magistrate) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) for the offense of sections 499 (defamation) and 500 (punishment for defamation) of Indian Penal Code.

The actors on the other hand filed a dispense and quash petition which were recently dismissed, said Mr. Vijayan. As the actors failed to appear before the Judicial Magistrate Court in Udhagamandalam on 15 May 2017, the judge, Senthilkumar Rajavel, issued non-bailable warrants against them.

The case has been adjourned till 17 June  for the next hearing.