T.M. Krishna can receive Music Academy’s Sangita Kalanidhi & cash prize too but not in M.S. Subbulakshmi’s name: Madras High Court  

Madras High Court clears award for T.M. Krishna, prohibits naming after M.S. Subbulakshmi, pending civil suit.

The Madras High Court on Tuesday (November 19, 2024) cleared the decks for conferment of the prestigious ‘Sangita Kalanidhi’ award by the Music Academy on Carnatic singer T.M. Krishna and also the giving away of another mirror award, instituted by The Hindu in 2005 with a cash prize of ₹1 lakh, to him on January 1, 2025.

Justice G. Jayachandran, however, ordered that the mirror award, carrying the cash prize, should not be named after acclaimed classical musician M.S. Subbulakshmi since she had executed a will in 1997 expressing her desire that no trust, foundation, memorial, statue or bust should be instituted in her name or memory.

The orders were passed following a civil suit filed by Bengaluru-based V. Shrinivasan who claimed to be the grandson of Subbulakshmi. The plaintiff had opposed the conferment of the mirror award on Mr. Krishna primarily on the ground that the latter had made highly critical remarks against her.

However, pronouncing his orders on the plea for grant of interim injunction, Justice Jayachandran said, none of the reported comments made by Mr. Krishna against Subbulakshmi would matter when it comes to conferring the Sangita Kalanidhi award or giving away the cash prize without using her name. 

“His opinion about M.S. Subbulakshmi whether good, bad or ugly will not disqualify him from getting the title Sangita Kalanidhi. Conferring this title is the prerogative of the executive committee of the Music Academy. The suitability has to be decided by them and not by the plaintiff,” the judge said. 

He went on to state: “If The Hindu wants to honour the Sangita Kalanidhi of the year with a cash prize, the same also cannot be restrained for the reason that Mr. Krishna had, in the past, made certain unpleasant remarks about M.S. Subbulakshmi.”

On the other hand, accepting the plaintiff’s other contention with respect to the contents of a Will executed by his grandmother before her death in 2004; the judge said, it would be against the departed musician’s wish to name the mirror award, carrying the cash prize, after her.