The Sri Lankan rebel group - the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam - has mounted a legal challenge to the ban imposed on its activities in India.

The BBC correspondent in Madras says that it's the first such challenge since the Tamil Tigers, who are fighting for a separate homeland, were outlawed by the Indian government six years ago.

A lawyer for the rebel group Chandrasekharanappeared at a tribunal in the southern state of Tamil Nadu at Tiruchchirappalli or Trichy.

The tribunal was set up under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.