Hyderabad, Oct 10 (IANS): A court here on Thursday issued notice to Telangana's Forests and Environment Minister Konda Surekha in a defamation case filed by popular Tollywood actor Nagarjuna Akkineni.
Special Judicial Magistrate of First Class for Excise issued the notice while hearing the petition filed by the actor against the minister for making alleged defamatory comments about the divorce of his son Naga Chaitanya from actor Samantha Ruth Prabhu.
The court recorded the statement of the second witness, Venkateshwar Metla, and adjourned the case to October 23 for further hearing.
The court had recorded Nagarjuna's statement on October 8. The actor told the court that the minister’s remarks harmed the dignity and reputation of his family.
He stated that the minister had made disrespectful comments about his family, particularly regarding the divorce of his son, Naga Chaitanya, from actress Samantha Ruth Prabhu.
Nagarjuna claimed that Konda Surekha's remarks tarnished his family's reputation, which has been built over decades through their work in the film industry and social service initiatives.
The actor urged the court to take criminal action against the minister under section 356 of BNS for her statement.
The court also recorded the statement of Nagarjuna’s daughter-in-law Supriya Yarlagadda, as the first witness.
On October 2, the minister made certain comments on the divorce of Nagarjuna's son Naga Chaitanya, and Samantha Ruth Prabhu.
The minister had blamed Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president K. T. Rama Rao for the divorce.
Surekha's comments had triggered a storm in political and film circles.
Clarifying that her divorce was with mutual consent and amicable, Samantha had urged the minister not to trivialise her journey and to be responsible and respectful of individuals' privacy.
Konda Surekha later announced that she was withdrawing her comments. She clarified that her comments were not meant to hurt Samantha's sentiments but to question a leader's belittling of women.
The minister also stated that she was standing by her comments about BRS leader Rama Rao.
The former minister had served a legal notice to Konda Surekha the same day asking her to retract her statement and apologise.
Rama Rao on Thursday filed a defamation case against Surekha in the same court.