CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has refused to overturn the order of a single judge, who ruled against popular film star Tamannaah Bhatia’s civil suit for ordering the Power Soaps Limited to pay her Rs 1 crore damages for unauthorised use of her images for advertisement, even after the expiry of their agreement.
Upholding the 2017 order of the single judge, a division bench of justices P Velmurugan and KG Thilakavadi dismissed the appeal filed by the actress. The matter pertains to the agreement Tamannaah entered into with Power Soaps Limited for using her images to promote their product. The a g reement was for a period of one year from October 7, 2008, to October 6, 2009.
She had moved the High Court with a civil suit in 2011, seeking damages of Rs 1 crore for the alleged loss caused by the company by way of using her images without authorisation, even after the agreement period had lapsed. The single judge, in his 2017 order, concluded that the actress had not proved her contentions of unauthorised use of her images by the company, as the documents she had submitted were found to be not true and therefore dismissed her suit without granting relief. Challenging the single judge’s order, she had filed an appeal in 2018.