A Magistrate Court in Ooty has ordered summons to popular actors Suriya, Sarath Kumar, Sathyaraj, Sripriya, Cheran, Vijaykumar and others to appear before it on December 19. The order was issued on a defamation case filed by a journalist.

Ooty Judicial Magistrate R Subramaniam was hearing a plea by M Rozario, a freelance journalist hailing from Ooty, who alleged that the above actors made derogatory remarks on journalists and their families during a meeting in 2009.

"At a meeting organized by the South Indian Film Artistes Association in Chennai to condemn a Tamil daily for publishing an article that allegedly brought disrepute to actors, these persons attacked all journalists in general, speaking of them in a derogatory manner," Rosario said.

According to K Vijayan and P Senthilkumar, counsels of the complainant, “After several hearings and cross verification, a prima facie case was made out by the court following which summons have been ordered."