Chennai, March 12 -- In a relief for Tamil film director S Shankar, the Madras high court on Tuesday stayed the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) order passed on February 17 that allowed provisionally attaching three of his properties of worth more than Rs.10 crore over a copyright dispute under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The bench of justice MS Ramesh and justice N Senthilkumar stayed the ED's order based on a plea moved by Shankar. The court directed the ED to file its counter to the plea and adjourned the hearing to April 21.

The ED had taken action against a plea by writer Aarur Tamilnadan filed in Chennai's Egmore magistrate court claiming that Shankar's Tamil blockbuster Enthiran (starring Rajinikanth and Aishwary...