Chennai, Aug. 29 -- The Madras high court on Friday issued notices to former chief minister and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) chief and the party's IT wing on a civil defamation suit by Tamil Nadu minister Aadhav Arjuna, seeking damages worth Rs.1 crore over an X post linking him to an accused in a narcotics case. Justice K Govindarajan Thilakavadi ordered the notices, returnable by September 15, after hearing preliminary submissions from Arjuna's counsel. The judge also took note of senior counsel J. Ravindran entering appearance for Stalin and the DMK IT Wing. Arjuna told the court that post by DMK's IT Wing was "ex facie false" and highly defamatory. It claimed that Arjuna was related to John Britto, accused of smuggling narcotics worth Rs.258 crore, which were seized in two separate DRI raids in 2024. The post claimed that John Britto, an accused in a narcotics case involving the alleged smuggling of banned substances worth Rs.258 crore, was related to Arjuna. Arjuna has denied any connection with Britto and maintained that his relative, P John Britto, had in fact approached the Greater Chennai Commissioner of Police to complain that he was being wrongly identified as the suspected drug smuggler. He sought a permanent injunction restraining Stalin and the DMK IT Wing from making similar statements against him, as well as directions to issue unconditional apologies in both Tamil and English through their social media accounts as well as widely circulated Tamil and English newspapers and television channels. He has sought that the apologies be given the same prominence as the allegedly defamatory post. He has also asked the court to direct the deletion of the post and screenshots of it circulating on social media, and to surrender electronic records relating to its creation. He has sought reimbursement of the costs incurred in filing the suit. Arjuna has alleged that the post was not an isolated statement by a social media functionary of the DMK, but was published on the instructions of Stalin. In June, Arjuna had issued a legal notice to Stalin and the DMK IT Wing demanding a public apology within 48 hours over the allegations.At the time, he had alleged that Stalin and the DMK were "wantonly and wilfully" tarnishing his image....