A Division Bench of the Madras High Court has dismissed appeals preferred by legal heirs of film financier the late Mukunchand Bothra challenging a single judge’s 2018 order imposing costs of ₹25,000 on him for filing a civil suit against actor Rajinikanth and producer Kasthuri Raja. The suit had sought a direction to the actor to “take action” against the producer for misusing his name to borrow money.
The Bench of Justices M. Duraiswamy and T.V. Thamilselvi dismissed the appeals for non-prosecution since the financier’s son M. Gagan Bothra failed to attend many hearings though advocates D. Ravichander and S. Haja Mohideen Gisthi were ready to argue the matter on behalf of Mr. Rajinikanth and Mr. Raja respectively. The Bench said the aim of the appellant appeared to keep the 2018 appeals pending and drag the matter.
The Bench pointed out that Mr. Gagan Bothra did not appear before the court on June 18, 2021; February 8 and 10. He was not present on March 31 and on April 25. Hence, the appeal was ordered to be listed under the caption “For Dismissal” on April 28. On that day, he appeared early in the morning and sought an adjournment but the court refused to pass any such order.
The Bench directed him to be present when his case was called for hearing. “In spite of the said direction when the matter was called, the appellant appearing in person was not present. Hence, this court has no other option except to dismiss the appeals for non- prosecution,” the Bench ruled.
The appeals had been preferred jointly by M. Karishma Bothra, M. Gagan Bothra and M. Sandeep Bothra against an order passed by Justice N. Sathish Kumar on July 24, 2018. Then, the judge allowed applications filed by Mr. Rajinikanth as well as Mr. Raja to reject the suit and directed the financier to pay costs to the actor. Stating that the actor was a famous personality “known as ‘Super Star’ Rajinikanth not only in Tamil Nadu but also across the country,” the judge held that the suit had been filed for publicity.
It was the case of the financier that Mr. Raja, a film producer, had reportedly borrowed about ₹40 lakh from him in 2012. Subsequently, in the same year, he took ₹25 lakh more by reportedly misusing the actor’s name and claiming that the latter would settle the amount since they happen to be co-fathers-in-law. Alleging that he had been cheated by Mr. Raja, the financier sought a direction to the actor to “take action” against the producer.
