Kaththi defamation case on 2G dialogue: Petitioner’s arguments

While Kaththi team heaved a sigh of relief on the penultimate day of release sorting out all controversies related to the film, now a fresh legal trouble has surfaced. Advocate Ramasubramanian has filed a defamation case against Vijay, AR Murugadoss and Lyca Productions in Madurai High Court for the apparent reference to the 2G spectrum case in Vijay’s five-minute long monologue towards the end of the film.

Vijay’s dialogue in the film – “சாதாரண தண்ணியா? 2G-னா என்ன? அலைகற்றை. வெறும் காத்த வச்சே கோடி கோடியா ஊழல் பண்ற நாடுயா இது. செல்போன் ஆடம்பரம். தண்ணீர் அத்தியாவசியம்.

It loosely translates in English as “What does 2G mean? Airwaves. This is a country where people plunder crores and crores of money just out of air.”

The petitioner argues that the case is subjudice and the Delhi court has not issued any final verdict on whether corruption occured in the 2G spectrum auction or not. So, filmmakers are not supposed to arrive at a conclusion before the court’s ultimate decision, Ramasubramanian says. “The movie has been produced with an ulterior motive. It portrayed the nation and its rulers in bad light. Such dialogues will affect the nation’s foreign direct investment,” adds Ramasubramanian as part of his arguments.

Ramasubramanian further argued that Vijay, AR Murugadoss and Lyca Productions should be held accountable under section 500 (Defamation) of the IPC and demanded action against them. The court has adjourned the case to November 11th.