Chennai: The state government on Monday informed the Madras HC that the word Gethu is a Kannada word and not a Tamil word.
S. K. Prabakar, principal secretary/Commissioner of commercial taxes, stated this in his counter affidavit filed in response to the petition from Red Giant Movies, which sought exemption from entertainment tax for its Tamil film Gethu, starring Udhayanidhi Stalin. After hearing the arguments of senior counsel P Wilson, Justice M. Duraisamy posted to February 2, further hearing of the case.
In his counter, Prabakar submitted that the word Gethu does not find place in the University of Madras Tamil dictionary.
According to the Directorate of Tamil Development, the word Gethu does not find place in Sangam and other ancient Tamil literatures. The word Kethu was found as one of many phonetic expressions in Tamil and hence Gethu was not a Tamil word. Gethu and Kethu were two different words, though written in the same way in Tamil.
“The word Kethu has been used in Thirupugazh with different meaning. The Kannada word Gethu used by the petitioners’ production house was a totally different word. Since these two words were used in different context, it would not be appropriate to draw reference to the Kethu used in the Thirupugazh. The word Kethu used in Thirupugazh would not be pronounced as Gethu by anyone. The word Kethu used in Thirupugazh and the word Gethu used for the film are different. It is confirmed that Gethu is a Kannada word”, he added.
He said the film was viewed by the screening committee and based on the recommendations of the committee, the government rejected the application for exemption from entertainment tax. Hence, the allegation of the petitioner was totally false and devoid of any substance, he added.
