The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court today stayed for eight weeks proceedings in the case filed against India Today Editor Prabhu Chawla, at a Magistrate court in Tirunelveli district, for publishing the remarks of actress Kusbhoo on pre-marital sex in the Tamil edition of the Magazine on September 28. Proceedings in a similar case filed against the actress at the Sankarankoil Magistrate court in Tirunelveli district for her remarks on pre-marital sex also had been stayed for eight weeks.
Justice M Chockalingam also stayed the proceedings in similar cases against Khushboo in the Madurai Judicial Magistrate Court-II for four weeks.
Seeking to quash the case, Chawla, who moved the Madurai bench of the Madras High court, said Sankarankoil PMK local leader R Ramkumar had moved the complaint against him and the actress under sec 499 (defamation) and 500 (punishment for defamation) and 501 (printing or engraving a matter known to be defamatory) of the Indian Penal Code.
In his petition, Chawla said, "The learned magistrate, on an erroneous appreciation of law, took cognizance of the complaint and has issued process upon the petitioner." The case had been filed only to settle political scores against the actress and the intention of the complainant was "...to silence the voice of media from expressing their fair opinion," he added.
The actress also had filed a separate petition before the Bench to quash the Sankarankoil case, besides two other petitions to quash similar cases pending before the Judicial Magistrate-II in Madurai.
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