Jayalalithaa sued Karunanidhi late last year after his party's magazine ran an article, which she alleges defames her. (Press Trust of India photo)
DMK chief
M Karunanidhi, 92, appeared in a Chennai court this morning in a defamation case filed against him by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa. Within 30 seconds, the case was adjourned till March 10.
Mr
Karunanidhi, a former chief minister of the state, was accompanied by his son MK Stalin and daughter Kanimozhi. As he arrived at the Madras High Court complex, hundreds of party supporters who had gathered there since morning raised slogans. Inside the court hall, some lawyers and supporters clicked his pictures.
His plea seeking exemption from further personal appearance in court has been accepted, his lawyers have said.
Mr
Karunanidhi has said the defamation case is an attempt to threaten publications that do not support Ms
Jayalalithaa's ruling AIADMK.
The case was filed in November last year after the DMK mouthpiece Murasoli reproduced an article first published in a popular Tamil magazine "Anantha Vikadan." The chief minister has alleged that the article is defamatory.
She has also sued the editor and printer of "Anantha Vikadan."
Assembly elections will be held in a few months from now in Tamil Nadu, where the DMK and the AIADMK have won power in turns for many years now.
In 2011, Ms Jayalalithaa staged a big comeback dismantling a DMK government in the state led by Mr Karunanidhi.
Amid speculation that Mr Karunanidhi's 62-year-old son MK Stalin will take on Ms
Jayalalithaa this year for the chief minister's post, the party and Mr Stalin have insisted that it will be Mr Karunanidhi who will be chief minister for a sixth term if the party returns to power.