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A Bengaluru civil court, on Friday, July 4, passed an ex-parte interim injunction restraining actor-politician Kamal Haasan from making or publishing any statements that claim linguistic superiority over the Kannada language or defame its literature, land, and culture.
The temporary injunction was granted by the Additional City Civil and Sessions Judge, in response to a suit filed on July 2 by the Kannada Sahitya Parishat and its president Mahesh Joshi. The suit was filed in a representative capacity on behalf of the Kannada-speaking population.
The suit was prompted by Kamal Haasan’s remark during the audio launch of his film Thug Life in Chennai, where he said “Kannada was born out of Tamil.” The comment sparked outrage among pro-Kannada groups and led to calls for an apology from the actor.
In its order, the court stated, “The defendant, his agents, assigns, representatives or any person acting under or through them are hereby restrained, by way ad-interim ex-parte order of temporary injunction, from posting, making, issuing, writing, publishing and/or distributing any statement or remarks claiming linguist superiority over Kannada language or by making any statements having the effect of causing hurt or defaming the Kannada language, literature, land and culture till the next date of hearing”.
The court observed that the plaintiff organisation, a historic institution established in 1915, was “empowered to take any steps in the interest of Kannadigas, their literature and culture.” The order also stressed the urgency of the injunction, noting that issuing notice instead of granting interim relief would “defeat the very purpose of granting temporary injunction”.
The court also acknowledged the plaintiffs’ contention that Haasan’s statement promoted “the superiority of one language over the other” and had caused “immense pain and anguish” to Kannadigas. The statement was widely circulated in print and social media, worsening the hurt sentiments.
The Kannada Sahitya Parishat also pointed out the timing of Haasan’s remark — it came just days before he officially filed his Rajya Sabha nomination representing the DMK party. They argued that despite the Supreme Court allowing the release of Thug Life in Karnataka on June 18, the “defamatory and fallacious statement” continues to affect public sentiment.
The court granted the injunction under Order 39 Rule 1 and 2 of the Civil Procedure Code and directed the plaintiffs to publish a public advertisement as required under Order 1 Rule 8(2), since the suit was filed on behalf of a larger representative group. The plaintiffs were also instructed to serve copies of the plaint and relevant documents within seven days, failing which the injunction will stand vacated.
The matter has been posted for the next hearing on August 30.