Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Monday told opposition leaders from Tamil Nadu that he would ask the governor for a report on the controversy over the assembly's decision to punish six journalists for breach of privilege.

Speaker K Kalimuthu had ordered the arrest of The Hindu's editor N Ravi, executive editor Malini Parthasarthy, publisher S Rangarajan, chief of bureau V Jayant and special correspondent Radha Venkatesan, and editor of DMK party daily Murasoli S Selvam.

The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the execution of the warrants following a plea by The Hindu journalists.

On Monday, 57 opposition leaders called on Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in Delhi and "requested his immediate intervention with a view to protect the legitimate rights and put an end to the abuse of power by the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhaghan government in Tamil Nadu."

In a memorandum, they claimed that the "AIADMK government has been consistently foisting false cases against persons inimically disposed towards its leader or for reasons known only to the chief minister."