The Ernakulam Sub Court has dismissed the plea challenging the rejection of nomination filed by Malayalam film producer Sandra Thomas to contest for the post of president in the election to the executive committee of the Kerala Film Producers’ Association (KFPA).
Her interim applications for holding the election under the court’s monitoring and to restrain the returning officer from acting further on any aspects related to the conduct of the election were also dismissed by the court on Wednesday. The election is scheduled on August 14, 2025.
In a Facebook post, she termed the court verdict as ‘unexpected and disappointing’. “I will consult legal experts to decide on the future course of action”, she said.
Her nomination papers for the posts of president and treasurer of the KFPA were rejected on the grounds that she did not meet the eligibility criteria for contesting to the post of a key office-bearer. The returning officer claimed that she had only produced two movies under her production banner named Sandra Thomas Productions. However, the rules permitted her to contest for the post of member of the executive committee for which she had filed the nomination.
She had approached the court stating that she was a managing partner of another firm and the films made by it were censored under her name. She said the bylaws permitted a person having three movies censored in their name to contest the election.
Final picture
B. Rakesh, and Saji Nanthiyattu are in the race for the post of president of KFPA. Listin Stephen, Vinayan, Kalliyoor Sasi are the candidates for the post of general secretary. For the post of vice-president, those in the fray include Sophia Paul, Anand Kumar, and Sandeep Senan.
Published – August 13, 2025 01:48 pm IST
