The Madras High Court on Monday ordered the Tamil Nadu Film Producers Council (TFPC) to submit the details of the amount spent and contracts signed for the upcoming ‘Ilaiyaraaja 75’ event scheduled to be held on February 2.
The order came on a petition filed by producers J Sathish Kumar and Radhakrishnan, alleging that there are many irregularities in the TFPC after actor Vishal took over as its President. In their petition, the duo had sought the court’s intervention in conducting the council’s elections and general body meeting.
They had also requested an interim stay on the ‘Ilaiyaraaja 75’ event to be conducted by the TFPC on February 2 honouring music composer Ilaiyaraaja for his contributions to the field.
The petition was heard by Justice Kalyanasundaram on Monday. During the hearing, the counsel for J Sathish Kumar stated that the council under the leadership of Vishal has misappropriated funds up to Rs 7 crore. It was also submitted in the court that the TFPC has no right to give Ilaiyaraaja Rs 3.5 crore and the event management company another Rs 3.5 crore for this event without the approval of the general body. The petitioner also accused Vishal of not disclosing any document related to the funds in the council.
Recording the statements submitted by the petitioner, the judge raised a question as to why the event, ‘Ilaiyaraaja 75’, cannot be postponed by two weeks. The counsel appearing for the TFPC responded by submitting that all arrangements have been made for the event and around 3,500 persons will be attending the event. The defence lawyer also stated that J Sathish Kumar wishes to stop the event from taking place and that their accusations on Vishal are baseless.
This was rebutted by the judge who asked why the TFPC cannot disclose the documents related to the event to the petitioner.