Case against "Gethu" adjourned

Even as the Tamil Nadu Government had refused to provide entertainment tax exemption to Udhayanidhi Stalin starrer Gethu on the ground that the title is not a Tamil word, the judge hearing the case pointed out that the word ‘Gethu’ figures in ‘Tiruppugazh’, a book of poems in praise of Lord Murugan by Arunagirinathan. 

However, Justice R Mahadevan refused to issue notice to the government and adjourned the case to January 27 for further hearing after the Government Pleader sought more time to file the counter. Senior Counsel P Wilson appearing on behalf of Red Giant Movies had submitted that the word figures in two Tamil dictionaries with the meaning ‘a way to highlight one’s pride, greatness and cleverness and also that it means ‘trickery’. 

Also, narrating the sequence of events at to how the viewing committee comprising mainly of Telugu speaking people had concluded that the movie is good and that they were rejecting it for tax exemption as the title is not a Tamil word, Wilson claimed that the viewing committee have not seen the Tamil dictionary before passing the impugned order.

 He also submitted that Red Giant Movies has consistently been denied tax exemption for all the four movies they have produced so far. Contrary to what was reported here on Thursday, only the independent viewing committee comprising of six persons, appointed by the HC had rejected the grant of tax exemption claiming that the word ‘Gethu’ is not Tamil. The Madras High Court is yet make any ruling on the case.