'Jai Bhim': Big relief for team as Madras HC dismisses FIR against Suriya & director

Despite all the critical appreciation and humongous success that Suriya starrer courtroom drama Jai Bhim received, the film continues to get stuck in controversies. After months of proceedings, the Madras High Court’s latest decision to quash criminal proceedings against Suiya and Jai Bhim's team has come as a great relief to the makers.

 According to the latest decision, the Madras High Court has finally dismissed the FIR against Jai Bhim, Suriya, Jyothika, and director TJ Gnanavel for having allegedly hurt the feelings of the Vanniyar community. The case was in court since December, and the verdict was pronounced by Madras High Court Justice N Sathish Kumar on August 11. 

Case dismissed against Jai Bhim makers and team 

According to Live Law, Justice N Sathish Kumar had allowed the petition filed by the actor and the director to dismiss the FIR filed by Velachery Police on a complaint by Advocate K Santhosh, president of Rudra Vanniyar Sena. He had approached the Saidapet Magistrate seeking direction to file an FIR. Subsequently, Surya and Gnanavel were charged under Section 295A of the IPC.

The petitioners in their petition had claimed that the complainant had misconstrued that the antagonist of the movie, named Gurumurthy was an attempt by the filmmakers to tarnish the Vanniyar Community as the name Gurumurthy was similar to that of Gurunathan, former leader of Vanniyar Sangham. Apart from the petition, the Vanniyar Sangam has also demanded the removal of particular scenes from Jai Bhim and Rs. 5 crore compensation within seven days.

However, in May, after the release of the film and its reaching of Oscars and other acclaimed platforms, the Madras Court ordered cops to investigate. During the matter in court, Suriya and his wife even received death threats and were also issued police protection. 

Previously, through an interim order, the court had directed the Respondent police not to take any coercive actions against the actor and the director.

Meanwhile, released on November 2, 2021, the Suriya-starrer legal drama titled Jai Bhim follows the story of a tribal couple - Senggeni and Rajakannu - and the injustice that the wife has to face when the husband goes missing from the police custody after being arrested on false allegations. The wife seeks help from lawyer Chandru who swears to bring justice to the duo. The movie is based on real-life events. 

IMAGE: Instagram/ActorSuriya