A court in Chennai on Tuesday issued summons to senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Murli Manohar Joshi on a petition filed against him for his alleged defamatory remarks against Tamil Nadu government following the arrest of Kanchi seer Jayendra Saraswati in the Sankararaman murder case.

Additional Sessions Judge B Ramalingam asked Joshi to appear in the court on June six.

The petition was filed by city Public Prosecutor T V Ganesan on behalf of the government.

Four Tamil and two English dailies have been named in the defamation suit for publishing Joshi's remarks flaying the government and state police for the arrest of the seer.

• Holy man in controversy: Complete coverage

In the petition, Ganesh said Joshi, who had met the seer in the Vellore prison on November 14, had made the remarks without verifying facts. The remarks tarnished the image of the government in the eyes of the public.

The suit sought to punish Joshi, a former Union minister, for his per se remarks that there was an 'ulterior motive' behind the arrest and that it was the result of a conspiracy.

The seer was arrested on November 11 in connection with the murder of Sankararaman, manager of a Kanchipuram temple. He was lodged in the Vellore prison. He was released after the Supreme Court granted him bail on January 10.