Chennai: The Madras High Court on Tuesday dispensed with the personal appearance of actor-turned politician Vijayakanth of DMDK in a defamation case filed against him by the state government in a court in Villupuram over his speech at a public meeting in February last.
First Bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice M Sathyanarayanan dispensed with the appearance of Vijayakanth, the Leader of the Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, two other party MLAs and his wife before the Villupuram District and Sessions Judge Court. The two MLAs have filed separate petitions.
The court directed the Registry to consolidate the petitions and list them for further hearing on October 27.
The defamation case filed by the Public Prosecutor against Vijayakanth and others with regard to the speech made by him at a public meeting in Eraji near Uldundurpet in Villupuram District wherein he had charged the police with "inability" to control corruption.
Vijayakanth, facing a number of defamation cases, has already filed a petition challenging the validity of the provisions of Section 199 (2) and (4) of Code of Criminal Procedure (prosecution for defamation) as illegal and ultra vires of Constitution and inconsistent with Section 499 of the Indian Penal Code which empowers the Public Prosecutor to file defamation case after getting sanction from Government.
The high court had also dispensed with the appearance of Vijayakanth and others in several defamation cases filed against them in different courts.
