These orders were passed on an application filed by the official assignee of the Madras High Court, urging the court to modify the order passed on August 12, allowing the release. Canguva On deposit amount of only ₹ 1 crore.
Much awaited release of Suriya starrer film Canguwa on Thursday now depends on the ability of its producer KE Gnanavelraja to deposit ₹20 crore on or before Wednesday midnight in the credit of the official assignment of the Madras High Court.
Justice G. Jayachandran and Justice C.V. Karthikeyan’s division bench ordered that the film, which also stars Bollywood actors Bobby Deol and Disha Patani, should not be released on Thursday without the money being deposited within the stipulated time.
These orders were passed on an application filed by the official assignee, urging the court to modify the order passed on August 12, allowing the release. Canguva On deposit amount of only ₹ 1 crore. The applicant insisted that the manufacturer should be directed to deposit the entire liability of ₹26.34 crore.
The dispute related to the litigation dates back to 2011 when Mr. Gnanavelraja entered into an agreement with businessman Arjunlal Sunderdas (deceased) to co-produce a film by investing ₹40 crore. As per the agreement, the businessman had invested ₹12.85 crore before backing out of the project.
Subsequently, in 2014, the High Court declared Arjunlal Sunderdas bankrupt and directed the official assignee to take stock of all his assets and liabilities so that hundreds of people who had deposited money in his real estate and finance companies could be reimbursed. Their dues can be paid.
While conducting the assessment as directed by the court, the official assignee found that Mr. Gnanavelraja owed ₹10.35 crore to the insolvent, and hence, filed an application before the High Court in 2016 seeking a direction to him to repay the amount. 18% interest since 2013.
The Division Bench allowed the application in 2019 and directed the manufacturer to repay the entire liability of ₹10.35 crore along with interest into the account of the official assignee. Although he took the order to the Supreme Court on appeal, his appeal was later rejected on September 2, 2024.
Meanwhile, the official assignee was filing application after application before the High Court for recovery of the outstanding amount before each release of a new film, but managed to recover only ₹3.93 crore, including ₹1 crore recovered before the release of Vikram. I was successful. Starring thangalan,
However Mr. Gnanavelraja attempted to disassociate himself from Studio Green Films Pvt Ltd, which had produced thangalan as well as CanguwaAnd claimed to not have made any films in the last two and a half years, the Division Bench refused to accept his claim.
“The decree holder (official assignee) is unable to pay the creditors of the insolvent after waiting for almost six years after receiving the decree who has been waiting for almost 10 years after the insolvency petition was filed. The leniency shown so far towards the judgment debtor appears to be a misplaced sympathy, assuming that he has a good intention of repaying substantially, if not all, of the debt. Therefore, this Court has no other option but to pass an injunction restraining the second respondent from releasing the film under the name ‘Kanguva’ without discharging the decree,” the bench wrote.
published – November 12, 2024 07:40 PM IST
