The Supreme Court today stayed the trial court proceedings in a defamation case filed by the Essar Group against Greenpeace activist Priya Pillai and two others at Singrauli in Madhya Pradesh.

A bench of Justices Jagdish Singh Khehar and Adarsh Kumar Goel also issued notices to the firm and the Centre on Pillai's plea in which she has also challenged the validity section 499 (defamation) of the IPC.