Holding Nadigar Sangam elections now could be catastrophic: actors Nasser, Vishal, and Karthi tell Madras HC-OxBig News Network

(From left) Actors Vishal, Nasser, and Karthi

A civil suit has been filed in the Madras High Court against the continuance of actors Nasser, Vishal Krishna, and Karthi as president, general secretary, and treasurer, respectively, of the South Indian Artistes Association, popularly known as Nadigar Sangam, post expiry of their three-year elected term on March 19, 2025.

V. Nambirajan, a 79-year-old member of the association, has filed the suit for declaring as illegal a resolution passed at the 68^th annual general meeting (AGM) held on September 8, 2024, for extending the tenure of the office-bearers for three more years. He also sought a restraint order against the current office-bearers.

Filing a detailed counter affidavit before Justice K. Kumaresh Babu, Mr. Vishal said, the Nadigar Sangam was established by stalwarts of South Indian cinema for the welfare of drama and film artistes. The association got registered under the Societies Registration Act in 1952, and it has 2,900 members as of now.

The present team of office-bearers contested the 2015 elections under the banner of ‘Pandavar Ani’ and emerged victorious. The team began constructing a convention centre on 18 grounds and 2,061 square feet of land belonging to the Nadigar Sangam at Habibullah Road in T. Nagar, Chennai, at a cost of ₹25 crore.

However, when its term ended in 2018, only 60% of the construction had been completed. Though elections were conducted in 2019 under the supervision of a retired High Court judge, the results could not be declared till 2022 because the issue was mired in legal disputes.

After Pandavar Ani was declared re-elected, it found that substantial repair works had to be carried out to the unfinished building before continuing the construction work. Hence, it obtained a loan of ₹25 crore from State Bank of India and also from a few individuals, besides securing donations.

Finally, the construction work of the convention hall, a dream project of the association, commenced on April 26, 2024, and at present, 85% of the work has been completed, the counter affidavit filed on behalf of Mr. Nasser and Mr. Karthi as well, through the Nadigar Sangam counsel Krishna Ravindran, read.

To ensure the present team continues to be in office until the completion of the construction work, one of the members S.R. Sekar moved a resolution at the 68^th AGM for extending their tenure by three more years. The August 23, 2024, proposal was signed by 311 other members and was passed unanimously.

Stating the litigant had not attended either the 2024 AGM or any other AGM ever since he became a member of the association in 2015, the office bearers said he appeared to have been used as a proxy litigant by some disgruntled elements who want to disrupt the functioning of the association.

Mr. Vishal wondered how the plaintiff, Mr. Nambirajan, could have paid over ₹3 lakh towards court fee for insituting the present civil suit when he had sought financial aid and medical assistance from the association citing his indigent condition and was a beneficiary of the association’s monthly pension scheme.

“This clearly indicates that the suit is being prosecuted at the behest of others and the applicant/plaintiff is a proxy who had filed the case with the malafide intention of derailing the completion of the valuable convention centre which would also house the office of the association,” the counter added.