Music label Saregama India has approached the Delhi High Court seeking contempt of court action against veteran composer Ilaiyaraaja, alleging he continued to exploit and claim ownership of songs despite an existing court injunction barring him from doing so.
The dispute traces back to a suit Saregama filed alleging that Ilaiyaraaja was granting unauthorised licences and asserting ownership over sound recordings and musical works tied to 134 films released between 1976 and 2007, works Saregama claims exclusive rights to through assignment agreements. On February 13, Justice Tushar Rao Gedela of the Delhi High Court restrained the composer and anyone acting on his behalf from exploiting, licensing or claiming ownership over the disputed works. Ilaiyaraaja later sought to have that injunction vacated, but the court dismissed his application and reaffirmed the order on July 1.
In its latest filing, Saregama alleges that Ilaiyaraaja went on to violate the injunction in several ways. It claims he continued making the disputed songs available on platforms including Spotify and YouTube, and separately issued a legal notice to production house Beyond Pictures on May 8 asserting ownership over the song ‘Podhuvaga Emmanasu Thangam’ from the Rajinikanth-starrer ‘Murattukkaalai’, demanding the company obtain a licence from him for its use. Saregama says this directly contradicted the Delhi High Court’s February order.
The label further alleges that Ilaiyaraaja then filed separate proceedings over the same song before the Madras High Court on June 23, again asserting exclusive ownership, without disclosing the existing Delhi injunction or the pending Delhi proceedings. According to Saregama, the Madras High Court granted an ex parte interim order in Ilaiyaraaja’s favour on July 6, which was later vacated once the Delhi proceedings came to that court’s attention.
Describing the composer’s conduct as deliberate and wilful disobedience of the Delhi High Court’s orders, Saregama has asked the court to detain Ilaiyaraaja in civil prison, attach his movable and immovable properties, and appoint an official receiver to sell those assets, with the proceeds to be handed over to the company. Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani has issued notice in the matter and sought Ilaiyaraaja’s response.
