CHENNAI: The legal battle for the control of the influential South Indian Artists Association, or Nadigar Sangam as it is popularly known, continued with a City Civil Court restraining existing office-bearers from expelling actor Kumarimuthu from the Association’s membership.
Following a petition for the removal of Kumarimuthu, VI Assistant Judge, S Muruganantham, passed the order restraining the Association’s general secretary Radha Ravi and president R Sarath Kumar from enforcing the resolution of the annual general body meeting expelling Kumarimuthu till the suit is disposed.
According to Kumarimuthu, he has been a member of the Association since January 1980. He was deeply disturbed by several reports published in the media alleging irregularities in the lease agreement entered into with SPI Cinemas over the construction of a building on land owned by the Association. The media alleged that the Association had incurred a loss of `150 crore from the deal, according to Kumarimuthu.
The petitioner said that he had sought clarification from Radha Ravi and Sarath Kumar and requested them to release a white paper clarifying the situation. Meanwhile, Radha Ravi sent a show cause notice on January 22, 2013 to Kumarimuthu stating that he had shown disrespect to the office bearers and asked him to file a response in a fortnight. Later the Association initiated disciplinary action against him. On September 18, 2013, Kumarimuthu was expelled from the Association through a resolution passed in the general body meeting.