The Madras High Court on Monday, July 10, 2023, dismissed a private complaint/case lodged against actor Dhanush, Aishwarya Rajinikanth and a few others under the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply, and Distribution) Act of 2003.
The Court determined that the complaint was not an offense under Article 5 of COTPA, 2003, That forbids the promotion, use, and consumption of cigarettes or any other tobacco product. Also, the movie-makers carried disclaimers as instructed by the censor board during the smoking scenes as stated by Actor Dhanush, through his counsel, during the smoking scenes.
Justice N. Anand Venkatesh cancelled petitions and held that smoking scenes found on the posters of the 2014 movie Velai Illa Pattadhari (VIP) would not attract the offense under Section 5 of COTPA, which prohibits only producers, suppliers, and distributors of tobacco products from advertising them.
Stating filmmakers could not be prosecuted under the legal provision, the judge said: “A penal statute has to be strictly construed since the consequence of an action taken under the statute will touch upon the life or personal liberty guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.”
The judge added: “Courts cannot be swayed by emotions. If the facts do not constitute an offense, the court cannot try to expand the scope of the provision by considering the adverse impact that a tobacco or tobacco product can have on society and particularly the younger generation.”
He also questioned the eight-year delay in filing the case. However, the judge did not go into the issue of negligence, since he overruled the complaint on its merits. The complaint against Ms. Aishwarya had been lodged in her capacity as a director of Wunderbar Films, which produced the movie.
The other individuals against whom the complaint was reversed included film producer AVM Kumaran, exhibitor ‘Abirami’ Sv.Rm. Ramanathan, Wooldlands theatre managing partner N. Venkatesh, and Padmam theater proprietor C.T. Ramanathan.
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