Alappuzha (Kerala): A local court here has
issued an arrest warrant against Kerala Chief Minister V S
Achuthanandan in connection with a defamation case filed
against CPI(M) organ `Desabhimani` in 2004, when he was its
chief editor.
A First Class Judicial Magistrate court at Cherthala
town, about 22 km from here, issued the order yesterday. The
court has also issued arrest warrants against CPI-M state
secretary Pinarayi Vijayan and party`s deputy leader in the
Lok Sabha P Karunakaran, who were printer and publisher and
general manager of the daily respectively.
The defamation case was filed by K K Anil Kumar, a
`melshanti` with a temple in Cherthala. In his complaint, he
had alleged that the report published on December 24, 2004 in
the daily contained defamatory statements against him.
The reporter of the daily, Jayapradeep, was also listed
as an accused in the case.
The one-month High Court stay on the case had expired and
it had directed the accused to appear before the magistrate
court. The respondents, including the chief minister, had
failed to appear before the court after it issued summons to
them.
Bureau Report
