Madras High Court Rejects Tamanna Bhatia's ₹1 Crore Appeal Against Power Soaps For Allegedly Using Her Images Despite Expiry Of Contract

The bench of Justice P Velmurugan and Justice K Govindarajan Thilakavadi upheld the order passed by the single judge in 2017.

In her original suit, Tamanna had stated that she had entered into an agreement with Power Soaps on October 7, 2008, agreeing the use of her pictures in the wrappers of soaps manufactured by the company. The agreement was entered into for a period of one year and was valid till October 6, 2009. After the expiry of the agreement, it was not renewed.

Tamanna had argued that even after the expiry of the agreement, the company continued to use her pictures on their products, without her approval. She submitted that such continued usage had caused her loss, which she quantified at Rs 1 crore.

On the other hand, the company opposed the plea and submitted that Tamanna had not produced any incriminating materials, which she alleged to have come to her knowledge. The company argued that Tamanna was not entitled to claim any amount towards imaginary damages claimed by her.

The single judge, after perusing the documents produced by Tamanna, did not find them to be true documents, which had come into existence at the instance of the company. The court thus concluded that Tamanna had not proved that the company was responsible for the existence of the wrappers produced by Tamanna. The court thus refused to accept Tamanna's case that the company had exploited her pictures/photographs in their advertisements after the agreement period.

Since the materials produced by Tamanna did not inspire the confidence of the court, the court had dismissed her plea, refusing to grant any damage as claimed by her. This order has now been upheld by the division bench.

Case Title: Tamanna Santhosh Bhatia v M/s. Power Soaps Limited and Another

Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Mad) 163

Case No: OSA 190 of 2018