NE LEGAL BUREAU
CHENNAI, JAN 4
The Madras High Court on Friday dismissed a public interest litigation seeking to restrain the streaming of Gautham Vasudev Menon’s web series Queen.
Justices M. Sathyanarayanan and R. Hemalatha, who heard the case on Friday, stated that the petition was not worth the trial. Petitioner P.A. Joseph had filed the plea seeking to ban the web series that released on December 14 on the online portal MX player, on account of the local body polls. Previously, the judges had reserved their verdict without setting a date. However, as a last-minute update, it was announced on Thursday evening that the PIL would be heard early the next day.
According to a report in The Hindu, the judges reserved their verdict on December 17, also questioning the bona fides of the petitioner who claimed to be a businessman in his affidavit. Reportedly, he was the president of a daily wage labourers’ association at Koyambedu market in Chennai.
Senior counsel Satish Parasaran, who represented the director and video streaming platform, also brought to the court’s attention the fact that the petitioner had filed cases against Justice Arumughaswamy Commission which probed the death of Jayalalithaa.
Only a day before Queen‘s release, the Madras High Court rejected a plea by former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa’s niece Deepa Jayakumar, that sought a stay on the upcoming biopics of the late leader.
The biopic Thalaivi, also on Jayalalithaa, is being directed by A.L. Vijay and stars popular Hindi language star Kangana Ranaut in the lead role. When the film’s first look teaser was released, many slammed Kangana’s prosthetic make-up that did not make her resemble the late leader.
The web series directed by Gautham Menon stars Ramya Krishnan in the lead and has a total of 11 episodes. When the web series was released, it had received mixed response.
