Filmmaker Leena Manimekalai’s passport has been impounded following a defamation case filed by Susi Ganesan. Leena received an email from the Passport Authority stating, “In the absence of any response from you, your file has been impounded.” Her counsel, VS Senthil Kumar, however, said that it is factually incorrect to say that she did not respond. In fact, when the Chennai Regional Passport Office had sent her a show cause notice on February 8, 2021, even though Ganesan’s petition to impound her passport then had been disposed off by the Saidapet Metropolitan Magistrate in November 2020, Leena did respond to the notice.
He informed a media source, “We replied on March 15, 2021, saying this is a matter pertaining to a private complaint, it is not pertaining to a police case. But we did not get another response from the Passport Office. Leena even filed an RTI to know what happened to her reply to the show cause notice, but we haven’t gotten a response for that either.”
Ever since Leena came out with her Me Too story, accusing the filmmaker of sexual harassment, she has been facing several hurdles professionally, and even with travel. While a previous petition to impound her passport by Ganesan was not entertained by the court earlier, he again moved court to reopen it about a week ago. Now, while Leena awaits a copy of the magistrate’s order from the day, the Passport Office has said it will impound her passport.
As Leena intends to travel to Canada to pursue her higher education now, the Magistrate has allowed the petition to be reopened. She is pursuing an MFA course from York University in Canada, which is an academic award on full scholarship. Meanwhile, Ganesan has claimed that Leena will attempt to flee the country.
