HC directs actress Vijayashanthi to appear before it on Monday

Chennai: The Madras High Court has directed actress Vijayashanthi to appear before it on September 18 regarding referring a property dispute to the mediation centre for settlement.

Justice M V Muralidaran passed the order recently on a criminal original petition filed by the actress.

In the petition, Vijayashanthi had prayed for quashing a complaint, filed by Indir Chand Jain, and an order passed by a lower court.

She said the parties had agreed to settle the matter and prayed that it be referred to the mediation centre.

The court said unless the parties appeared before it, the matter could not be referred to the mediation centre and directed them to appear on September 18.

Jain had, in a complaint filed before the VIII metropolitan magistrate, George Town, alleged that the actress entered into an agreement with him for the sale of a property at Nungambakkam, but cheated him by selling it to others.

However, the court had dismissed the complaint stating that it was civil in nature, following which he filed a complaint before the chief metropolitan magistrate, Egmore, who forwarded it to the Deputy Commissioner of Police, CCB, Chennai.

Vijayashanthi alleged that Jain had filed the complaint before the CMM, Egmore, suppressing the fact that it had been dismissed by the metropolitan magistrate.

She submitted that he had also filed a civil suit and a criminal revision complaint in the high court.

She sought quashing of the complaint and the order of the CMM, Egmore.

When the matter came up, Jain's counsel prayed to the court to refer the matter to the mediation centre, enabling them to settle the dispute, to which Vijayashanthi's counsel also agreed.