The Supreme Court on Friday raised to six weeks the duration for which expelled All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MP Sasikala Pushpa is protected from arrest in a sexual harassment case. The court also questioned the Tamil Nadu government’s insistence on her arrest, The Hindu reported.

Pushpa had moved the apex court against a summons issued to her by the Madurai bench of the Chennai High Court to appear on August 29, in a case in which she and her family were accused of allegedly ill-treating and sexually abusing their domestic help. Thoothukudi police had registered an FIR against Pushpa on August 10.

A bench headed by Chief Justice TS Thakur posed several questions to Tamil Nadu counsel and senior advocate Subramonium Prasad. "The fact that the state is keen on her appearance shows that there is more to this case than meets the eye...that this is all a counterblast against her allegations against you," the court said, directing the expelled AIADMK MP and the other accused to obey the summons. It also asked the high court to mull over Pushpa's anticipatory bail applications "uninfluenced by the fact that the Supreme Court has protected her".

The complainant in the sexual harassment case had also alleged that the family had threatened to kill her if she told anyone about the ill-treatment being meted out to her. The former Tuticorin mayor who was a Rajya Sabha member was expelled from the AIADMK after was involved in a scuffle with Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MP Siva and also for indulging in anti-party activities.