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Madras High Court dismisses Dhanush, Aishwarya Rajnikanth complaint over VIP poster showing actor smoking cigarette.
Madras High Court dismisses Dhanush, Aishwarya Rajnikanth complaint over VIP poster showing actor smoking cigarette.
On Monday, the Madras High Court overturned a case that had been filed in 2022 against actor Dhanush, director-producer Aishwarya Rajinikanth, and some other individuals, stating that they had broken the law by representing the actor smoking a cigarette in the poster for his 2014 film, VIP. The complaint had been filed against Dhanush, Aishwarya Rajinikanth, and the other individuals.
The complaint that had been brought before the local metropolitan magistrate’s court by one Cyril Alexander was dismissed by Justice N. Anand Venkatesh.
The individual who filed the complaint asserted that Aishwarya Rajnikanth, the film’s producer, had violated Section 5 of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003 (COTPA). This section of the law prohibits the promotion or consumption of cigarettes or any other tobacco products, either directly or indirectly, through advertisements distributed through any medium.
In his turn, Dhanush had testified before the court that movie posters and scenes do not qualify as advertising or promotions. In addition to that, the filmmakers had included disclaimers against smoking cigarettes in compliance with the criteria provided by the CBFC.
The complaint was dismissed by the High Court, however the court did agree that the aforementioned poster could not be interpreted as a commercial encouraging people to use tobacco products.
“In the instant case, the only allegation that has been made in the complaint is that the advertisement banners of the movie were found to carry the picture of the lead actor prominently smoking cigarette. This act, per se, cannot be brought within the purview of Section 5 of the COTPA since the display was not done by persons engaged in the production, supply or distribution of cigarettes or any other tobacco products and the person, who was depicted as smoking cigarette, was not under any contract with the entity or the person engaged in production, supply or distribution of cigarettes or any other tobacco products nor he was promoting their product,” the Court said.
Advocate Vijayan Subramanian and Senior Counsel PS Raman both made an appearance on Dhanush’s behalf.
Prosecutor General’s Office, Additional A Damodaran made his appearance on behalf of the administration of the respondent state.
Advocate S Sathiachandran appeared in court on behalf of the person who filed the initial complaint.
