The Madras High Court on Wednesday stayed eight defamation petitions filed against former Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president E V K S Elangovan.
Justice P D Audikesavalu, before whom all the petitions came up, dispensed with the personal appearance of Elangovan and also stayed all further proceedings pending before the special court for trial of criminal cases related to elected MPs and MLA's here.
The matter relates to four cases filed by the city public prosecutor for Elangovan's speeches made against then chief minister J Jayalalithaa, two against present Chief Minister K Palaniswami, one he made against then governor of Tamil Nadu Rosaiah and another one against state minister Vijaya Bhaskar over different periods of time.
The judge, who stayed the proceedings, also posted to another date the matters along with similar petitions which are pending for adjudication.