Madras High Court Dismisses PIL Seeking Action Against Director Mani Ratnam For Allegedly Distorting History In Ponniyin Selvan

Advocate L.K. Charles Alexander had alleged that the director has distorted the history of the Chola dynasty for commercial purposes and has used the names of the historical figures in his movie to "intentionally defame the history" "being preserved" by the Central Government.

The bench of Acting Chief Justice T Raja and Justice Bharatha Chakravarthy however dismissed the plea after observing that the movie was based on the novels written by Author Kalki and not based on the actual historical characters themselves.

The court also asked the petitioner if he had actually read the novel written by Kalki. To this, the petitioner answered in negative. The court was amused as to how the petitioner could claim that history had been distorted when he himself had not read the novel.

The petitioner had submitted that the Government and the Archaeological Survey of India, being responsible for maintaining and regulating the archaeological activities and history of the country, should have taken strict action against the director. However, they have failed to take any action against the director for "violating" the provisions of the Antiquities And Art Treasure Act 1972 and the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act 1958, the plea alleged.

Contending that the distortion of the history in any form "degrades the integrity of the country", the petitioner said that he had made representations to the State government, Archaeological Survey of India and the Central Board of Film Certification to investigate into the matter but no action was taken.

Case Title: LK Charles Alexander v. Secretary to Government and others

Case No: WP 9825 of 2023