SC orders Rajinikanth's wife to face trial for fraud

The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed that Latha Rajinikanth, superstar Rajinikanth's wife, would have to face criminal proceedings on a complaint by an advertising agency, for non-payment of Rs 6.2 crore.

The money was given to a firm, Mediaone Global Entertainment Ltd, in which she was a director, during the post-production of 2014 film Kochadaiiyaan.

A bench of Justices Ranjan Gogoi, R Banumathi and Navin Sinha set aside the Karnataka High Court's order of March 10, 2016, saying it was "not justified" in quashing the proceedings against Latha.

The proceedings against her was initiated following a Bengaluru court's order on a complaint by the advertising agency, city-based Ad-Bureau Advertising Pvt Ltd.

Advocate Balaji Srinivasan, representing Latha, submitted that they had argued before the high court about "breach of agreement" by the agency since they had agreed to pay Rs 20 crore to Mediaone Global Entertainment Ltd but later paid only Rs 10 crore.

“Just because they (agency) did not give you Rs 20 crore, will you retain whatever they had given you,” the bench asked.

“This is a case which should have gone for trial. You (Latha) can apply for discharge at an appropriate stage,” the bench said.

The counsel for the agency contended that Latha had not paid the money to them as per the undertaking given by her in the apex court earlier.

But the court said that chapter has now been closed. After going into the merits of the matter, the court also told Latha's counsel that she can apply for appropriate remedy during the proceedings under the Criminal Procedure Code before a trial court.