The Madras high court on Wednesday directed the Tamil Nadu government to not initiate any action against film director AR Murugadoss for the criticism of the government’s freebie schemes in his Vijay-starrer Sarkar.

The movie ran into controversy and the ruling AIADMK had staged protests in front of cinemas and damaged posters and banners, opposing the criticism of freebies and the veiled references to late chief minister J Jayalalithaa.

With the filmmakers deleting and muting the objectionable portions in Sarkar, the movie had a smooth run and also made record in box office collections.

However, the city police registered an FIR against Murugadoss on a complaint from one advocate Devaraj, alleging that that the film depicted Tamil Nadu government’s freebies schemes in a poor light.

Fearing arrest, Murugadoss moved the high court seeking to quash the FIR.

Justice Anand Venkatesh granted the relief and directed the Tamil Nadu government not to take any action against the Murugadoss.

Earlier, the AIADMK government moved the high court to haul up the director, seeking that he should tender an apology and assure not to criticise the government’s schemes in his upcoming movies. However, Murugadoss has refused to oblige.

First Published: Dec 12, 2018 19:46 IST