Hyderabad, Oct 23 (IANS): Telangana Forest and Environment Minister Konda Surekha on Wednesday filed a reply in a defamation case filed by popular Tollywood actor Nagarjuna Akkineni.

Her counsel Gurmeet Singh filed the reply on her behalf before the court of a Special Judicial Magistrate, First Class and it posted the case to October 30 for further hearing.

The minister was issued notice by the court on October 10 on a petition filed by the actor for making alleged defamatory comments about the divorce of his son Naga Chaitanya from actor Samantha Ruth Prabhu.

The court has already recorded the statements of Supriya Yarlagadda and Venkateshwar Metla, the two witnesses in the case. It 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. Nagarjuna stated that the minister had made disrespectful comments about his family, particularly regarding the divorce of his son.

The actor claimed that Konda Sureskha’s remarks tarnished his family’s reputation, which has been built over decades through their work in the film industry and social service initiatives, and urged the court to take criminal action against the minister under Section 356 of BNS for her statement.

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 be responsible and respectful of individuals’ privacy.

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 the 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 has also filed a Rs 100 crore defamation case against the minister in the same court.