Justice PV Kunhikrishnan termed the petition filed by director Lijeesh 'frivolous' and observed that the pleadings lacked evidence.
Kerala HC dismisses Lijeesh MJ petition. (Supplied)
The Kerala High Court on Friday, 11 August, dismissed a petition that aimed at annulling the 53rd Kerala State Film Awards owing to lack of evidence. The petition was filed by Malayalam director Lijeesh MJ.
While dismissing the petition, the High Court said the petitioner failed to submit evidence against director Ranjith Balakrishnan who has been accused of interfering with the award selection process. Ranjith is also the Chairman of Kerala State Chalachitra Academy.
Justice PV Kunhikrishnan termed the petition “frivolous” and observed that the pleadings were insufficient and lacked evidence to prove that nepotism and bias existed while selecting the awards, as mentioned by Lijeesh.
Lijeesh, the director of Aakaashathinu Thazhe (2022), submitted his movie for the Kerala State Film Awards 2022 under the category of feature films. However, he alleged that his film didn’t win awards due to nepotism and bias on the part of the jury.
In his petition, Lijeesh also mentioned similar allegations made by director Vinayan who claimed that he had evidence against the jury members of the Kerala State Film Awards 2022 which could prove bias and nepotism on their part.
Now, Lijeesh is learnt to be filing a fresh plea asking the High Court to reconsider his petition.
Vinayan recently alleged that Ranjith misused his power as Academy chairman and prevented his (the former’s) film Pathonpatham Noottandu from receiving major awards.
The filmmaker also released a voice clip of Nemom Pushparaj, one of the jury members who allegedly confirmed the interference of Ranjith in the award selection process. In his Facebook posts, Vinayan also challenged the Chalachitra Academy Chairman to refute the charges.
Meanwhile, Lijeesh claimed that his movie (Aakaashathinu Thazhe) was discarded by the Chalachitra Academy which also violated his right to equality guaranteed under Article 14 of the Constitution.
In his petition, the director asked the High Court to direct the State government and the Kerala State Police Chief to conduct an inquiry and take action against Ranjith.
However, Kerala Cultural Affairs Minister Saji Cheriyan refuted the allegations made against the Academy Chairman and defined him as “a legend” and “a gentleman”.
Cheriyan also told the media that Ranjith had no role in the award selection process and the entire responsibility was entrusted to the award jury headed by Bengali filmmaker Gautam Ghosh.
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