Madras HC directs Kochadaiiyaan producer to pay Rs 2.52 crore fine or face jail term
In the long-drawn cheque bounce case against the producer of Rajinikanth’s Kochadaiiyaan, the Madras High Court has ordered him to pay a fine of Rs 2.52 crore or face jail term of six months.
Passing the order, Justice Sunder Mohan allowed a criminal revision case filed by J Murali Manohar and his banner MediaOne Global Entertainment – which backed India’s first photorealistic motion capture film – against the direction imposed by metropolitan magistrate in 2021, which was later confirmed in 2023 by a civil court in the city.
The proudcer had taken a loan of Rs 10 crore from Ad Bureau Advertising for the film’s release which was later repaid via two cheques of Rs 5 crore each.
When the cheques were presented to the bank, the company stopped the payment, leading to the dishonour of the cheques.
According to Abirchand Nahar of AdBureau Advertising Private Limited, the two companies had made an agreement in 2014 to give MediaOne a loan of Rs 20 crore for completion of post-production work on the film. The latter told AdBureau that the lease sales of Kochadaiiyaan would give them a revenue of only close to Rs 10 crore. They also promised to pay the company 20 per cent of the sales or Rs 2.40 crore before selling its rights to any other party.
When the said amount of Rs 10 crore did not reach AdBureau, the company filed a case under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act of 1881.
In 2021, a metropolitan magistrate in Egmore issued an order giving the producer a six-month jail term. He also directed him to give Rs 7.70 crore or face another six months behind the bars. The order was later confirmed by an Additional City Civil Court in 2023. Later, the producer reached the High Court to claim that they had already repaid Rs 12.75 crore. After investigations, the judge noted that the ad agency had only lent Rs 10 crore and an amount of Rs 8.74 crore had already been repaid. It was also confirmed by the court that the producer must pay a fine of Rs 2.52 crore, which was twice the existing amount. In case of non-repayment, the court had warned of six months of imprisonment.