Music composer Ilaiyaraaja on Tuesday agreed not to press the claim for damages to the tune of ₹50 lakh from Prasad Laboratories, withdraw two criminal complaints lodged against its owners and not pursue civil cases too if he was allowed to spend just a day at a recording theatre used by him for last 35 years and take away all his belongings.
Appearing before Justice N. Sathish Kumar, senior counsel P.S. Raman said the composer was agreeable to a suggestion made by the court to put a quietus to the entire dispute between him and the owners of the laboratories.
Senior counsel P.H. Arvindh Pandian said the landlords had also accepted court’s suggestion to permit his entry for a day.
Appreciating both sides for shedding their egos and coming forward for an amicable settlement, the judge granted a day’s time for Mr. Ilaiyaraaja to file an affidavit undertaking that he would not press for damages and withdraw all cases.
Mr. Raman agreed to forward a soft copy of the affidavit by Wednesday and then submit a hard copy with signatures.
The judge said after the receipt of the affidavit, he shall pass orders permitting Mr. Ilaiyaraaja to visit the recording theatre, situated within the campus of Prasad Laboratories, on a day that could be mutually decided by his counsel on record Sanjeev Kumar and Prasad Laboratories’ counsel on record Abdul Saleem.
Since Mr. Saleem complained that a large number of film personalities had accompanied the musician during his last visit and created a chaos, the judge made it clear that only the musician, his personal assistant, a music assistant, a court appointed Advocate Commissioner and the counsel on both sides would be allowed to visit this time.
He also stated that the police would also be directed to provide necessary protection in order to ensure that the visit turns out to be peaceful and Mr. Ilaiyaraaja could take away all his belongings, including expensive musical instruments and invaluable handwritten compositions, after taking an inventory of all the articles.
