MADURAI: Allowing a petition filed by actor Dhanush, the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court today quashed the maintenance case filed against him by an elderly couple.
The couple – R Kathiresan (65) and K Meenakshi (53), in their petition filed before the Judicial Magistrate Court in Melur in Madurai district in November 2016 had claimed that Dhanush was their biological son and sough a monthly maintenance of Rs 65,000 from him as he had failed to take care of them.
The couple claimed him to be their third son K Kalaichelvan who dropped out of Class XI in 2002 and went to Chennai to pursue his interest in acting and changed his screen name as Dhanush. The couple also demanded DNA test on Dhanush to prove their paternity claim.
Denying their claim, Dhanush moved the HC Bench seeking to quash the case. He also opposed the plea for DNA test, not because he had something to hide, but because his integrity and right to privacy should not be tested at the instance of people who file frivolous cases.
Dhanush said he was born to R.Krishnamoorthy and K.Vijayalakshmi in Chennai on July 28, 1983 and was named as R.K.Vengadesha Prabhu. He further said his father and he had changed their names to Kasthoori Raja and Dhanush K.Raja respectively and notified in the gazette. He also relied upon a copy of ration card issued to his family in 2005 that contains the names of his parents, brothers, sisters and himself.
After hearing both sides, Justice P.N.Prakash read out the operative portion of the order alone in the open court. The Judge rejected the couple’s submissions and said their statement was false as claimed by the actor. He also dismissed the plea for DNA profiling on Dhanush.
Soon after the verdict, the counsel for the couple said they would appeal against the order.
The couple – R Kathiresan (65) and K Meenakshi (53), in their petition filed before the Judicial Magistrate Court in Melur in Madurai district in November 2016 had claimed that Dhanush was their biological son and sough a monthly maintenance of Rs 65,000 from him as he had failed to take care of them.
The couple claimed him to be their third son K Kalaichelvan who dropped out of Class XI in 2002 and went to Chennai to pursue his interest in acting and changed his screen name as Dhanush. The couple also demanded DNA test on Dhanush to prove their paternity claim.
Denying their claim, Dhanush moved the HC Bench seeking to quash the case. He also opposed the plea for DNA test, not because he had something to hide, but because his integrity and right to privacy should not be tested at the instance of people who file frivolous cases.
Dhanush said he was born to R.Krishnamoorthy and K.Vijayalakshmi in Chennai on July 28, 1983 and was named as R.K.Vengadesha Prabhu. He further said his father and he had changed their names to Kasthoori Raja and Dhanush K.Raja respectively and notified in the gazette. He also relied upon a copy of ration card issued to his family in 2005 that contains the names of his parents, brothers, sisters and himself.
After hearing both sides, Justice P.N.Prakash read out the operative portion of the order alone in the open court. The Judge rejected the couple’s submissions and said their statement was false as claimed by the actor. He also dismissed the plea for DNA profiling on Dhanush.
Soon after the verdict, the counsel for the couple said they would appeal against the order.