CHENNAI: The court cannot stop those from calling the student whose personal mobile number is shown as that of actor Sai Pallavi in ​​the film “Amaran”, the Madras High Court said on Friday.

However, when Justice S. Sounthar heard the petition filed by an undergraduate student against ‘Amaran’ filmmakers for using his phone number in the film, causing him inconvenience, he headed production house Raajkamal Films International, directed by Rajkumar Periasamy and the Central Board of Film certificate to file a counter application and the matter was postponed to December 20 for further proceedings.

Senior advocate Arvind Pandian, appearing for the production house, submitted that the objectionable portion referred to by the plaintiff has been removed from the film and his mobile number has also been masked. He also submitted the amended Censor Board certificate after making the changes to the film. After that, nothing was left of the case, he claimed.

Plaintiff’s lawyer Munusamy responded that although the number was later masked in the film, the teenager still received calls.

At this point the judge intervened and said: “The court cannot restrict the telephone calls. If you wish, I can instruct the service provider to block all calls to you. Is that okay with you?” He also noted that there was nothing left of the main cause of the case.

The petitioner had attempted to direct the service provider to provide him with the details of calls received on this number. But the judge refused to give the instructions. The court could not proceed further because of the inconvenience faced by the plaintiff, the judge noted, recommending that he draft a common law remedy. “As long as your client keeps the same cell phone number, he will answer the calls,” the judge said.

The court then issued notice to Bharti Airtel, the service provider, and directed all parties to file countermeasures.

The petitioner, VV Vaageesan, a B Tech computer science student at a private college in Porur, alleged that ‘Amaran’, released worldwide on October 31, violated his privacy by using his personal mobile number.

In the film, his mobile number is displayed on the screen as the number of actor Sai Pallavi, who played the female lead. As a result, he has been receiving countless calls from all over India and even abroad since the film’s release, the petitioner said.

Because of this, he was unable to sleep, read, or concentrate on his studies, resulting in psychological trauma. Therefore, to avoid the ordeal, he was forced to disconnect the mobile phone connection, he said.

The petitioner alleged that film director Rajkumar Periasamy and production house Raajkamal Films International were responsible for his ordeal and demanded Rs 1.10 crore as the cost of the ordeals he suffered. He also sought a direction to cancel the Censor Board certificate issued to the film as it violated Sections 5A and 5B of the Cinematograph Act, 1952.

Vaageesan also asked the court to ban the film production company from screening the film in theaters or releasing it on OTT platforms until the petition is decided.