Film actress Kushboo, who is at the centre of a controversy for her remarks on pre-martial sex, made a sudden apperance in a court in Chennai to surrender even as the Madras High Court reserved its orders on her anticipatory bail plea. When Kushboo approached the Mettur judicial magistrate court to surrender she was told by court officials to present herself on Wednesday, as the magistrate was not present.

She, however, recorded her presence in the court register. "I came to surrender and will come to the court on Wednesday," Kushboo told reporters after appearing in the court. On November 11, Judicial Magistrate S Sridharan had issued a non-bailable warrant against the actress for her failure to appear in court in connection with a defamation suit filed against her for her remarks. When the suit came up for hearing on November 11, the actress was not present and her advocate filed a petition seeking to dispense with her presence citing inclement weather and some prior engagements as the reasons.

The Magistrate, however, dismissed the petition and posted the case for hearing on December 16. In Chennai, Justice S Sardar Zakharia Hussain of the Madras High Court reserved orders today after hearing arguments on the bail application by the counsels of Kushboo and Murugan who had filed the complaint against the actress in the Mettur court in Salem district.

• Suhasini reopens Khushboo controversy

Kushboo had moved the High Court as she apprehended arrest following issuance of a non-bailable warrant against her by a Judicial magistrate at Mettur in a defamation suit for her remarks on pre-marital sex by women. In a related development, actress Suhasini Maniratnam, who had defended Kushboo, expressed regret for her comments through a letter to South Indian Film Artistes Association President Vijaykant and its General Secretary R Sharathkumar.

"Please treat the entire episode as a bad dream," she said in a "self-explanation" to the South Indian Film Artistes Association President Vijaykant and its General Secretary R Sharath Kumar, according to a release issued by them. On November 13, Sharath Kumar had sent a letter to Suhasini seeking an explanation for her defence of Kushboo. Meanwhile, an effigy of Suhasini was burnt by members of the Sharath Kumar Fans association in Vellore on Tuesday, police said.