Journalist moves court for action against Tamil actors

Chennai, Oct 12 (IANS) A senior journalist Monday moved the Madras High Court demanding action against Tamil actors for their alleged derogatory and defamatory statements against journalists and their families Oct 8.

The arrest of a news editor of a leading Tamil daily last week has sparked off a full-fledged war between the journalists in the state and the movie actors.

'Various journalist bodies had filed a complaint with the city police to take action against some actors who spoke derogatively about the journalists and their family members on Oct 8. As no action has been taken till now, the current petition has been filed,' V. Anbazhagan, president of the Chennai Union of Journalists (CUJ), told IANS.

He said action has been sought against actors Vivek, Sripriya, Vijayakumar, Satyaraj, Arun Kumar and Surya.

According to him, the case is expected to come up for hearing Tuesday and the CD containing the speeches made by the six actors at the South India Film Artistes Association (SIFAA), popularly known as Nadigar Sangam meeting, will be played to the judge.

'We are also sending defamation notice to the actors. Journalists in various districts will file a complaint against the six actors for their derogatory and defamatory remarks about journalists and their family members,' he added.

Journalists contend that the police arrested B. Lenin, news editor of Dinamalar, within two days of Nadigar Sangam filing a complaint for permitting a publication of a news report on Oct 4 carrying names and photos of leading lights of Tamil cinema allegedly involved in prostitution.

The report was based on the statement given to the police by actor Bhuvaneswari, who was arrested last week by the city police for running a high profile prostitution racket from her home.

However, the daily prominently published an apology to the actors the following day even before such a demand was made by anybody.

Following the arrest of Lenin under Section 4 of Tamil Nadu Women Harassment (Prevention) Act, city journalists hit the streets demanding his release while various journalist organisations condemned Lenin's arrest.

On Friday, Lenin was released on unconditional bail two days after his arrest.