SC refuses to stay release of Rajinikanth's 'Kaala'
New Delhi, June 6 : The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to block the release of Rajinikanth starrer Tamil film "Kaala" saying that it cannot put on hold the screening just a day ahead of its release.
Observing that everyone was waiting for its release, a vacation bench of Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel and Justice Ashok Bhushan told petitioner K. Rajasekharan that he would be entitled to compensation if his plagiarism claim of his original story "Karikalan" was sustained.
"Kaala" is produced by Wonderbar Films with Pa. Ranjith as director and Rajinikanth in the lead. "Kaala" is set to release on Thursday.
Rajasekharan had moved the top court challenging a Madras High Court decision to hear his plea against the release of the film on June 16.
Rajasekharan has claimed that he had authored the fictional story about Chola King Karikalan when he was studying in Class 12.
Petitioner's advocate Akash Kakade said his client had applied for the copyright which is valid for 60 years.
He said the title of the film "Karikalan" was registered with the South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce which was renewed for 10 years.
Kakade said that in 1994 eight songs, which were to be used in the proposed film, were registered and released. But he could not go ahead with the making as he did not get dates from Rajinikanth and also faced a cash crunch.
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Women's quota bill would have ensured defeat of democracy, Constitution: Aaditya Thackeray
Mumbai (PTI): Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray on Saturday said that the passage of the women's quota bill would have ensured a "total defeat of democracy", alleging that the legislation, linked with a delimitation exercise, was a political tool designed to reduce the voice of states.
Thackeray, in a post on X, claimed that the Bill would have amended the Constitution for the political means of the ruling regime to increase seats, reduce the voice of many states and enable the gerrymandering of constituencies to ensure unfair victories.
"The very amendment that would have ensured the total defeat of democracy and the Constitution in India stands rejected by the unity of the Opposition MPs," he wrote.
The legislation should have been called "Delimitation to ensure unfair victory Bill", the former minister said, adding that there was a genuine need to enable 33 per cent reservation for women in the current number of seats.
"Now, it is up to the government to ensure that it is implemented in the 543 seats of the Lok Sabha for the 2029 elections and all elections across India, if that is the real intent of the government," he wrote.
A Constitution Amendment Bill to implement reservation for women in legislatures in 2029 and increase the number of Lok Sabha seats was defeated on Friday in the Lower House.
While 298 members voted in support of the Bill, 230 MPs voted against it. Out of 528 members who voted, the Bill required 352 votes for a two-thirds majority.
According to the Constitution Amendment Bill, Lok Sabha seats were to be increased to a maximum of 850 from the current 543 to "operationalise" the women's reservation law before the 2029 parliamentary polls, following a delimitation exercise based on the 2011 Census.
