Bengaluru civil court issues gag order directing Kamal Haasan against speaking about Kannada

Indian Express

18 hours ago

The court of the 31st Additional City Civil and Sessions judge issued a gag order against Kamal Haasan on July 4, following a suit filed by Mahesh Joshi, chairman of the Kannada Sahitya Parishat, on July 2. The Kannada Sahitya Parishat has alleged that remarks made by the actor suggested the 'superiority of one language over the other'. The suit sought to restrain Kamal Hassan from making remarks in the future that could hurt the sentiments of the Kannada people.
In the order restraining Haasan from commenting on the Kannada language, the civil court stated that the Kannada Sahitya Parishat is 'empowered to take any steps in the interest of Kannadigas, their literature and culture.'
'This court is of the considered view that granting ex-parte ad-interim relief of temporary injunction against the defendant is necessary in order to prevent the defendant from making any statement/remarks claiming linguistic superiority of one language over other and thereby hurting the sentiments of Kannada people in respect of their land, language and culture till the next date of hearing,' the civil court said.
The court noted that the Kannada Sahitya Parishat president said that Kamal Haasan had remarked, 'Kannada was born out of Tamil,' during a film promotion, which allegedly hurt the sentiments of Kannadigas.
'It is the specific allegation of the plaintiffs that by making such remarks, the defendant is claiming superiority of one language over the other. Hence, he prays to restrain the defendant from making the same or similar remarks in future, having the effect of hurting the sentiments of Kannada people in respect of their land, language and culture,' the court noted.
'If this court, instead of granting ex parte ad-interim order of temporary injunction, orders for the issuance of notice to the defendant, then the very purpose of granting temporary injunction would be defeated by delay,' the civil court said in its order.
'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 civil court said.
Kamal Haasan made the remarks about Kannada during the audio release of his film Thug Life in Chennai in May. The Mani Ratnam-directed movie, which was due for release on June 5 across India, was stalled in Karnataka following an outrage over his remark that 'Tamil gave birth to Kannada'.
The Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC) sought an apology from the actor to facilitate the release of the film, even as pro-Kannada groups threatened to target theatres if the movie is screened.
Kamal Haasan, who was recently nominated to the parliament as a Rajya Sabha member from Tamil Nadu, did not acquiesce to the demand for an apology, and instead chose not to release Thug Life in Karnataka.
The filmmakers approached the Supreme Court after the Karnataka High Court also suggested the actor should apologise to facilitate the film's release.
On June 18, the Supreme Court directed the Karnataka Government to ensure the uninterrupted release of Thug Life after the state filed an affidavit confirming that there would be no restrictions on the movie's release. The top court said the state must act swiftly against any groups attempting to disrupt the film's release forcibly.