HC rejects PIL against Dhanush-starrer 'Velaiyilla Pattathari'

The Madras High Court today refused to entertain a PIL against Tamil film "Velaiyilla Pattathari" stating that "every citizen cannot become a super Censor Board or a super authority in the form of petitioning the court.
The First Bench, comprising Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice M Sathyanarayanan, observed that "every citizen cannot become a super censor board or a super authority in the form of petitioning the court under a PIL".
The judges were passing orders on a PIL of S Cyril Alexander, Convener, Tamil Nadu People's Forum for Tobacco Control (TNPFTC).
S Satish Chandran, counsel for Alexander, said the film, starring Dhanush, superstar Rajnikanth's son-in-law, did not run the statutory disclaimer during smoking scenes as required by the Prohibition of Tobacco Advertisement, Promotion, Sponsorship of COPTA - Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products Acts, 2003.

The counsel said the petitioner's representation to the state-level monitoring committee was of no avail.
The film did not run the statutory disclaimer lasting for minimum 20 seconds.
Refusing to entertain the PIL, the judges observed "representations are said to have been made to the committee. It is for the committee to find out whether there is any violation or not. We are thus not inclined to entertain the petition.