Coming off the recent Chennai concert fiasco, Oscar-winner AR Rahman has now filed a Rs 10 crore defamation suit against the Association of Surgeons of India (Asicon). According to reports, Asicon alleged that the music maestro had taken Rs 29.50 lakh for a performance in 2018 but did not honour that commitment.
Rahman, in response, has denied this and filed a suit stating that a third party was involved in this transaction and Asicon must withdraw these allegations in three days and tender an apology.
It has been reported that on September 27 Asicon filed a complaint seeking a refund of Rs 29.50 lakh which they had allegedly paid for the 2018 concert. Apparently, the concert did not take place due to lack of availability of a venue and permission from the government. The complaint stated that despite requests over the last two years that the money be returned, Rahman did not comply.
Rahman has now filed a defamation lawsuit against Asicon for Rs 10 crore and asked them to withdraw these allegations. The lawsuit also demanded a public apology for defaming Rahman. If a public apology was not forthcoming from Asicon in three days, he would proceed with legal and criminal proceedings, stated the notice.
“The police complaint and the instant notice all are aimed with a single agenda just to defame the good reputation built by my client over a period of time,” stated Rahman’s legal notice.
On September 10, AR Rahman’s Chennai concert titled ‘Marakuma Nenjam’ took place and was caught in a major controversy. There were charges of poor crowd management, allegations of molestation of women, lack of basic facilities and fake tickets being sold. In a venue that could hold only 25000 people, the organisers sold 40000 tickets resulting in chaos.