Rajinikanth, Latha Rajinikanth and Danush during the wedding ceremony in Chennai. EPS
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday pulled up Superstar Rajinikanth's wife Latha Rajinikanth over her attempts to backtrack from an undertaking given to the court to pay money to an advertising agency which had given Rs 10 crore loan to it during the post-production of 2014 film 'Kochadaiiyaan'.
A bench headed by Justice Ranjan Gogoi took strong exception to Latha's attempt to skirt her liability to pay Rs 6.2 crore to an advertising agency on the pretext that her previous lawyer had wrongly given the undertaking.
Kochadaiiyaan, which released in 2014, was a box-office debacle. Kochadaiiyaan, directed by Rajnikanth's daughter Soundarya Rajinikanth, used 'photorealistic performance capture technology' in the film.
"We don't like people playing around with court orders. We think you should face the trial. If you are innocent, you will be acquitted. Face the trial," the bench remarked.
The previous undertaking was to pay Rs 6.2 crore to advertising firm AD-Bureau Advertising Pvt Ltd. The firm has alleged that it had given the money during the post-production of 2014 film Kochadaiiyaan to Mediaone Global Entertainment Ltd on personal guarantee of Latha, who is a director in Mediaone. The advertising agency sought investigation and trial of Latha under charges of cheating, alleging that her firm did not only fail to repay the money, but also used the loan to cover some previous debts. While the trial court had ordered for investigation, the Karnataka High Court quashed the complaint, compelling the advertising agency to move the apex court in appeal.
In February, Latha's lawyer gave an undertaking in the court that if her firm does not pay in three months, she will be personally liable to pay `6.2 crore to the advertising agency.
However, on Tuesday, the lawyer for her firm offered to give a cheque of only `10 lakh. "We don't want you to pay. We want the lady to pay. It is her undertaking and the period of three months is long gone," the bench said while slating the hearing for Tuesday next week to deliver its order as to whether the investigation and trial of Latha should be revived or not.
