CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Friday granted ten days time for actor Mansoor Ali Khan to pay Rs 1 lakh as a cost for wasting the court's time by filing a defamation suit against actor Trisha and others for publicity.
The counsel for Mansoor Ali Khan appeared before Justice N Sathish Kumar and submitted that his client is facing a financial crisis, and the cost imposed is huge to him, hence sought 10 days time to pay the cost.
After the submission, the judge granted ten days time and posted the matter to February 5 for reporting compliance.
Actor Mansoor Ali Khan moved the MHC and filed a defamation suit claiming Rs.1 crore against actors Trisha, Kushboo, and Chiranjeevi for having made defamatory comments against him on social media.
He also stated that actors Trisha, Kushboo, and Chiranjeevi made defamatory comments against him on social media by giving a different context to a joke he made in a press meet, without verifying the truth.
However, on December 22, Justice N Sathish Kumar rejected the defamation suit filed by actor Mansoor Ali Khan and also imposed Rs 1 lakh, as a fine.
The judge observed that the defendant's social media posts were to condemn Mansoor's controversial speech, there is nothing defaming in their statements.
Mansoor already tendered an unconditional apology for his speech to avoid criminal prosecution and now filed this suit to attract more publicity, observed the judge.
The judge also imposed a Rs 1 lakh as fine on Mansoor for wasting the court’s time and directed to pay the cost to Adyar Cancer Institute.