An unexpected court drama unfolded today when supporters of Anwar Ibrahim and his former tennis partner S Nallakaruppan almost came to blows over the issue of 'rice'.

The incident took place before the former opposition leader was scheduled to testify against the senator for the first time.

Anwar is suing over alleged defamatory remarks made by Nallakaruppan in the article ' Anwar terima RM60 juta ' (Anwar receives RM60 million) which was published in Mingguan Malaysia and Sinar Harian in Aug 2008.

Anwar ( photo ) was led through the court's front entrance by seven Prisons Department guards at about 8.50am.

He shook hands with his supporters as he was led into the court room.

Anwar, who is the former Permatang Pauh MP, was then brought into the witness room where he was seated while the prison guards stood by.

A court police personnel was heard reminding those in the public gallery not to take pictures using their smartphones, and a prison guard was also seen instructing a lady who was caught snapping away in the public gallery to delete the images.

Then the court was disrupted when Nallakaruppan, who is the Malaysian United Indian Party president, came in.

Nallakaruppan was once Anwar's staunch supporter and left PKR after failing to win the party's vice-presidency and was also not chosen to represent PKR to contest in the Ijok by-election.

Both supporters came closer

Inside the court, some of Anwar's Indian supporters called Nallakaruppan a "traitor".

“ Awak makan nasi daripada dia (You took rice from Anwar),” they shouted.

To this, Nallakaruppan shouted back: “ Dia sudah ambil nasi saya banyak tau (he has taken a lot of my rice)”.

Fortunately, when Nallakaruppan ( photo ) and his supporters walked closer to Anwar's supporters, a court police personnel quickly intervened and asked them to calm down.

It is normal for supporters of Anwar to appear at all the hearings involving the PKR de-facto leader.

Among those present were Subang Jaya MP Wong Chen, PKR former secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, PKR vice-president Tian Chua and Selangor exco members Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad and Elizabeth Wong.

After Anwar gave his testimony, journalists tried to approach him and photographers who earlier missed his arrival rushed to take his photograph.

As the 67-year old politician was led away under heavy security, he waved and smiled as he headed for Friday prayers before being taken back to the Sungai Buloh prison.