Kannada TV Actor Nandini CM Dies by Suicide in Bengaluru

Invoking the teachings of Prophet Muhammad—“pay the worker before his sweat dries”—the Madras High Court has directed a municipal corporation to settle long-pending legal dues owed to a former counsel. The court observed that this principle reflects basic fairness and applies equally to labour and service-related disputes.

Justice G. R. Swaminathan made the observation while hearing a petition filed by advocate P. Thirumalai, who claimed that the Madurai City Municipal Corporation failed to pay him legal fees amounting to ₹13.05 lakh. Earlier, the High Court had asked the corporation to consider his representation. However, a later order rejected a major portion of his claim, prompting the present petition.

The court allowed Thirumalai to approach the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) and submit a list of cases in which he had appeared. It also directed the corporation to settle the verified fee bills within two months, without interest. The court noted that the petitioner had waited nearly 18 years before challenging the non-payment and that the corporation could not be fully blamed, as the fee bills were not submitted properly.

‘A Matter of Embarrassment’

Justice Swaminathan described it as a “matter of embarrassment” that the State has nearly a dozen Additional Advocate Generals. He observed that appointing too many law officers often leads to unnecessary allocation of work and frequent adjournments, as government counsel claim that senior officers are engaged elsewhere.

He expressed hope that such practices would end at least in the Madurai Bench of the High Court and added that Additional Advocate Generals should “turn a new leaf” from 2026 onwards.

‘Scandalously High Amounts’

While stating that the court cannot examine the exact fees paid to senior counsel or law officers, Justice Swaminathan stressed that good governance requires public funds to be used prudently. He expressed concern over the “scandalously high amounts” paid by government and quasi-government bodies to a few favoured law officers.

In contrast, the court noted that Thirumalai’s total claim was “a pittance” considering the large number of cases he had handled.

Background

Thirumalai served as the standing counsel for the Madurai City Municipal Corporation for more than 14 years, from 1992 to 2006. During this period, he represented the corporation in about 818 cases before the Madurai District Courts.

As the former counsel was unable to hire a clerk to obtain certified copies of judgments in all 818 cases, the court directed the District Legal Services Authority to collect the certified copies within two months. The court further ordered the corporation to bear the cost incurred by the DLSA and deduct that amount from the final settlement payable to the petitioner.

As part of her European tour, Karnataka Legislative Council Member and Vice Chairperson of the Karnataka NRI Forum, Dr. Arathi Krishna, met Michela Favaro, Deputy Mayor of Turin, to discuss key aspects of strengthening relations between Karnataka and Italy.

Dr. Arathi Krishna held the meeting along with Hemegowda, President of the Italy Kannada Association, and Mohamed Irshath, General Secretary for Europe of the Indian Overseas Congress (IOC).

The discussions focused on opportunities for the recruitment of Indian healthcare professionals in Italy, European–Italian language training programmes for Indian students, and broader avenues for academic and professional collaboration between the two countries.

The meeting was also attended by Simone Fissolo, President of the Moderati Council, along with Maria Bottoglieri and Francesco Tortorella, highlighting the growing institutional engagement aimed at fostering deeper bilateral cooperation.

Kannada and Tamil television actor Nandini CM has reportedly died by suicide at a paying guest accommodation in Bengaluru, shocking the television industry. She was 26.

Kengeri Police have registered an Unnatural Death Report (UDR No. 76/2025) under Section 194 of the BNSS Act, 2023. The incident is believed to have occurred between 11:16 pm on December 28, 2025, and 12:30 am on December 29, 2025. It was reported to the police the same day at around 9:15 am.

The incident took place on the second floor of the PG in Kengeri. According to the FIR, Nandini completed her PUC in Ballari in 2018 and later enrolled in an engineering course at RR Institute, Hesaraghatta. However, her interest in acting led her to discontinue regular college attendance and pursue acting training in Rajarajeshwari Nagar.

Since 2019, she had acted in several Kannada television serials and had been residing in PG accommodations in Bengaluru. She moved to the Kengeri PG in August 2025.

Following her father’s death in 2023, Nandini was offered a government job on compassionate grounds but reportedly declined, choosing to continue her acting career. This reportedly caused disagreements at home.

On December 29, around 3:45 am, Kengeri Police informed the family that Nandini had been found hanging in her PG room. The family reached Bengaluru at approximately 8:00 am to gather details about the incident.

Police said that on the evening of December 28, Nandini had visited her friend Puneeth’s house and returned to the PG around 11:23 pm, locking her room from the inside. When Puneeth tried calling her later without success, he alerted the PG manager, Kumar, and the in-charge, Kiran, around 11:50 pm. When they forced the door open, Nandini was found hanging from the window grille using a veil cloth. Emergency services and police arrived, confirming her death on the spot.

The family stated that Nandini had expressed in her diary her desire to continue acting and her reluctance to take up a government job, mentioning that her feelings were not understood by them. Based on this, the family has no suspicions or allegations against anyone regarding her death.

Further investigation is underway by PSI Hanumantha Hadimani of Kengeri Police Station.