Chennai:
A court in the Tirulnelveli district of Tamil Nadu has issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against actor and Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) founder Vijayakanth.
There are 23 cases against him for his alleged defamatory remarks on Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa last year.
The actor failed to appear in court today in one such hearing for the third day, after which the warrant was issued.
The lawyer appearing on behalf of Mr Vijayakanth said that he was unable to come in person due to the on going assembly session in Chennai and so had sought an exemption. However till noon the actor was not in the assembly.
The actor's party DMDK won 29 seats fighting the 2011 assembly elections in alliance with All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK). But the actor fell out with Ms Jayalalithaa and turned into a bitter critic of her government. Over the last one year Vijayakanth has been appearing in various courts fighting the state government's defamation cases.
His lawyer Mr Jayabalan, told NDTV "these cases are politically motivated and there is no truth in the defamatory charges they are alleging."