Defamation case: Karunanidhi appears in sessions court; hearing adjourned till March 10

Chennai: A sessions court on Monday adjourned till March 10 hearing in the defamation case filed against DMK chief M Karunanidhi by Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.

The 92-year-old leader appeared before the court on Monday.

Principal Sessions Judge N Audhinathan adjourned the hearing in the case till March 10.

Karunanidhi had recently said that this was "one among the many cases filed against me" by the Jayalalithaa government and he would face them legally.

A large number of DMK cadres thronged the court premises with police making tight security arrangements to prevent any untoward incidents. DMK party lawyers were also present. Karunanidhi, who enjoys 'Z' category security status, was escorted by a posse of security men.

Top DMK leaders including his son and party Treasurer, MK Stalin, daughter and Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi, Arcot Veerasami, grand nephew Dayanidhi Maran and TR Baalu were present in court.

Principal Sessions Judge N Audhinathan had in December 2015 directed Karunanidhi to appear before the court on January 18 in connection with an alleged defamatory article published in the party mouthpiece 'Murasoli' in November 2015 about the AIADMK government's four-year rule.

The court had also summoned Murasoli's Editor, Printer and Publisher S Selvam to appear on the same day in this regard.

The issue pertains to Karunanidhi quoting from an article in Tamil bi-weekly Ananda Vikatan's November 25, 2015 issue on the matter.

Writing in party mouthpiece 'Murasoli', the DMK chief had cited the article which had made a critical assessment of the four-year-old AIADMK government's performance.

The party's legal wing secretary R Girirajan had asked his party lawyers to be present in the principal sessions court in good numbers, in an apparent show of strength.

Meanwhile, replying to a question after coming out of the court, Karunanidhi told reporters, "I will not compel other political parties to form an alliance for the coming assembly polls. The decision to form any alliance should be their own."

The state assembly polls are scheduled in May.