Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Monday told opposition leaders from Tamil Nadu that he would ask the governor for a report on the controversy over the assembly's decision to punish six journalists for breach of privilege.
Speaker K Kalimuthu had ordered the arrest of The Hindu's editor N Ravi, executive editor Malini Parthasarthy, publisher S Rangarajan, chief of bureau V Jayant and special correspondent Radha Venkatesan, and editor of DMK party daily Murasoli S Selvam.
The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the execution of the warrants following a plea by The Hindu journalists.
On Monday, 57 opposition leaders called on Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in Delhi and "requested his immediate intervention with a view to protect the legitimate rights and put an end to the abuse of power by the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhaghan government in Tamil Nadu."
In a memorandum, they claimed that the "AIADMK government has been consistently foisting false cases against persons inimically disposed towards its leader or for reasons known only to the chief minister."
Leader of the Opposition K Anbazhagan said, "The prime minister said that the ruling party in Tamil Nadu has done something which cannot be justified."
