Chennai: On a civil case pending in the Madras High Court, late Carnatic doyen MS Subbulakshmi’s grandson Srinivasan said after the death of his grandmother in 2004, the Music Academy, in collaboration with an English daily, has been presenting a cash award of Rs 1 lakh for the Sangeetha Kalanithi Award in the name Subbulakshmi since 2005 to honour her.
He said the Sangeetha Kalanithi Award is presented every year during the Music Academy’s annual music concert season and that it has been announced that singer DM Krishna will be conferred the award at the 98th-anniversary function in December.
In his petition, Srinivasan said this announcement has come as a shock to Subbulakshmi's family, as Krishna has been making defamatory comments against her grandmother.
He also said the comments Krishna has been making against his grandmother in the press and on social media are for cheap publicity. He could not understand how someone who has questioned the credibility of the Carnatic music is being bestowed an honour bearing the name of MS Subbulakshmi. Therefore, he was asking for a ban on presenting this award to Krishna.
Responding to this petition, the Music Academy said they had no role in selecting the awardee and that the award has been presented by the English newspaper group since 2005 and there was no objection from the family members of the late singer.
Hearing these petitions, Justice G Jayachandran has given an interim stay on the award for 2024 to Krishna. At the same time, he said the award could be presented without using her name.
Also Read:
