CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has rejected a plea from J Deepa, niece of late Chief Minister and AIADMK general secretary J Jayalalithaa, to restrain the producers and directors from releasing a web serial and two bio-pictures on the life of her aunt.
However, the court imposed certain restrictions on Gowtham Vasudeva Menon, director of the web serial 'Queen', A L Vijay and Vishnu Vardan Indhuri of Hyderabad, who directed and produced the biopictures 'Jaya' in Hindi and 'Thalaivi' in Tamil.
Justice Senthil Kumar Ramamurthy, who rejected the plea, however, told Menon to display a 'disclaimer' before the screening of the serial, which was already released.
Accepting the submissions of advocate Vijayan Subramanian and the arguments of his senior counsel P S Raman as well as that of another senior advocate Satish Parasaran, Justice Senthil Kumar Ramamurthy disposed of the original applications arising out of a civil suit from Deepa, on Thursday.
Deepa had contended that the serial and the two pictures (under production) are without her consent. The same would amount to intrusion into her privacy and depict her in a poor light.
The judge also directed the trio to honour their undertaking given earlier that their productions would not cast a stigma on the applicant (Deepa) and that her image would not be depicted not even in a single scene.
Gowtham, the director of the web serial 'Queen' shall adhere to the commitment of providing disclaimer that it is a work of fiction and that resemblance to real person is coincidental and not intentional. He should also ensure that no character, closely resembling the applicant (Deepa), is depicted in the serial, pending adjudication of the main suit.
The judge said that the release of the film would be subject to certification by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) and the Board is at liberty to raise any objection and insist upon them to remove the objectionable footage, as a pre-requisite for the grant of certificate.
The application is disposed of by denying the interim relief as requested by Deepa, subject to the rider that the producers and directors shall adhere to the undertaking given by them in their counter-affidavits, the judge added.
The judge also said that the facts with regard to the case of Menon are distinct, and therefore, they have to be dealt with separately.
As regards personality rights of Jayalalithaa, even on a prima facie basis, it is difficult to accept that the applicant has inherited the same. Indeed the question as to whether such rights are capable of being inherited would have to await trial and final disposal.
The question as to whether the applicant is entitled to restrain the public exhibition of the web series in the exercise of the posthumous right of privacy remains to be considered, the judge added.
The judge also noted that the applicant (Deepa) is not a near relative of the former CM. She is not a daughter or even a member of the same household. In such circumstances one has to test for interlocutory purposes her asserted right-to prior restraint of the exhibition of the web series without her consent,” the judge said.