Madras HC quashes defamation complaint against Rajinikanth

CHENNAI: In a reprieve to actor Rajinikanth, the Madras high court on Tuesday quashed a criminal defamation complaint filed against him by a film financier.
Justice N Anand Venkatesh passed the order while allowing the plea moved by Rajinikanth to quash the complaint pending in the file of VII metropolitan magistrate court here. S Mukunchand Bothra filed the defamation complaint in connection with an alleged loan taken by director Kasturi Raja, father-in-law of Rajinikanth’s daughter.

Quashing the complaint, Justice Anand Venkatesh said, “In the present case, Rajinikanth had made the averment against the financier, Bothra, that the civil suit filed against him was intended to malign and defame him and extort money. The petitioner wanted to project the previous conduct/character of the financier which he thought was essential and relevant for the purpose of deciding the petition filed for rejection of plaint.”

A reading of the rejection plaint would showed the petitioner wanted to establish the fact the entire suit was intended to malign and defame him who had no dealings with the financier at any time. The claim that Kasturi Raja used the name of Rajinikanth for borrowing money from the financier was the only cause of action for filing the suit by the financier, the judge added.

According to Bothra, the words used by Rajinikanth in his plaint that only to extort money and malign the name of the actor were defamatory.

Refusing to accept the contention, Justice Anand Venkatesh said the court was of the view that the averment made in the affidavit by the petitioner was not per se defamatory, and it was made as a necessary averment in order to project the conduct/character of the respondent.

Noting that the continuation of the criminal complaint against Rajinkanth would amount to abuse of process of court, the judge said it required the intervention of the court.