A week after actor Kamal Haasan urged fans not to distribute nilavembu kudineer, a herbal concoction to treat dengue, until proper research is carried out, the star may face criminal action. This after the Madras High Court on Wednesday directed the police to register an FIR against actor Kamal Haasan if a cognizable offence is made out.

Justice MS Ramesh was hearing a plea by activist Devarajan seeking an FIR be registered against the star for his tweets.

In his petition, Devarajan states, “It is not clear on what basis he has declared that the medicine has side effects. If the actor had consumed nilavembu kudineer and suffered any such adverse side effects, he should have furnished proper details of such effects while making such statement," reported Times of India.  

He also alleged that Kamal Haasan was making such statements in an attempt to spread “false opinions” against the government and to disturb peace in the state.

Devarajan approached the High Court days after he filed a complaint against the actor with the Chennai Police Commissioner. However, the Chennai police had given the actor a clean chit and chosen not to register an FIR, stating that they found “nothing defamatory” in his tweet, reported The Hindu.

Last week, Kamal Haasan had tweeted urging his fans not to distribute nilavembu kudineer following reports that the core ingredient used in the concoction caused infertility. The star also tweeted to say, "It's not that the research should be done by allopathics. The traditionalists should also have done it. It is traditional for medicines to have side effects."

However, following Devarajan’s complaint, the actor issued a statement clarifying that he was not against nilavembu but had only made a suggestion in light of the reports.