Suriya, Sathyaraj, Sripirya and others issued non-bailable arrest warrant

In 2009 when a TV and a film artist Bhuvaneswari was arrested for allegedly being involved in flesh trade, a Tamil daily had carried the report which stated that Bhuvaneswari 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.

Subsequently, the Nadigar Sangam organized a protest where many actors including Sathyaraj, Suriya, Sripirya, Vivek and others allegedly made derogatory comments against journalists. Following this, a senior correspondent, Rozario Mariya Susai, had filed a private complaint with the Ooty Judicial magistrate against them for defaming journalists.

When the case came for trial before the Ooty Magistrate court, the actors moved the Madras High Court with a plea to quash the case. This petition was dismissed by the high court in March, after which the trial resumed. When the case came up for hearing on May 15, the actors failed to appear. And it was the same when it came up for hearing again yesterday, the 23rd May. Following this, Judicial Magistrate Senthilkumar Rajavel issued the non-bailable arrest warrant against Suriya, Sarathkumar, Sathyaraj, Cheran, Vijayakumar, Vivek, Arun Vijay and Sripriya on Tuesday. The case has been posted to June 17 for the next hearing.

Suriya Pictures