Filmmaker Gautham Vasudev Menon has suffered a legal setback after the Supreme Court upheld an earlier order of the Madras High Court in a long-pending financial dispute involving producer Elred Kumar of RS Infotainment.
The Supreme Court rejected the director’s appeal, and explained that there was no reason to interfere with the findings reached by the Supreme Court.
Hence, Gautham Menon will now have to repay Rs 4.25 crore at 12 per cent interest per annum as directed by the court. This ruling represents the latest development in a case that has been under litigation for more than a decade.
The case goes back to the 2008 film agreement with Silambarasan
As reported by The Hindu, the dispute started after RS Infotainment agreed with Gautham Menon in 2008 to produce a film starring Simbu.
According to the producer, an advance amount of Rs 4.25 crore was paid to the filmmaker for the project. During the proceedings, Gautham Menon’s lawyer maintained that the 2012 film Neethane En Ponvasantham was produced under the same agreement and that the director had fulfilled his obligations under the agreement.
But the Madras High Court bench rejected this claim.
Court rejects Gautham Menon’s defense for ‘Neethaane En Ponvasantham’
During the proceedings, Gautham Menon’s legal team argued that the 2012 film ‘Neethaane En Ponvasantham’ was produced under the same agreement and that the director had fulfilled his contractual obligations.
But the Madras High Court bench rejected this claim. The court noted that ‘Neethaane En Ponvasantham’ was produced under a separate agreement signed in 2011 and was not linked to the original 2008 contract with RS Infotainment.
It also concluded that the advance payment of Rs 4.25 crore received under the earlier agreement was not used for this film.
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Gautham Menon’s appeal was dismissed, and the Supreme Court order was upheld
Following the division bench’s decision, Gautham Menon and his production company, Photon Factory, moved the Supreme Court challenging the apex court’s order. The appeal was heard by a bench comprising Justices J.P. Pardiwala and K.Vinod Chandran. In the case at hand, the judges said they found no valid reason to interfere with the ruling of the Madras High Court and dismissed the appeal. With the Supreme Court upholding the earlier order, the order directing Gautham Menon to pay Rs 4.25 crore along with 12 percent annual interest with effect from May 2010 has come to an end and put an end to the long legal battle.
