In a setback to scriptwriters Javed Akhtar and Salim Khan, the Bombay high court on Monday refused to give them interim relief and stay the Friday release of the upcoming film Zanjeer, which is a remake of their blockbuster by the same name.
Justice S.J. Kathawala, who was hearing the matter, did not grant any interim relief by staying the release of the film and cited two grounds for refusing it. One was the delay made by the duo in giving the defendants legal notice and filing the suit against them. The other was that Salim and Javed had demanded the relief on the grounds of copyright infringement.
In their suit filed in the HC, Salim and Javed claimed that they had copyrights over the script, story and dialogues of the 1973 blockbuster Zanjeer and demanded `6 crore as monetary compensation from Prakash Mehra’s sons for the remake.
The duo contented they had had allowed Prakash Mehra to produce the film based on their script just once. Hence, a remake could not be produced without their permission.
Justice Kathawala, dismissing the notice of motion moved by Salim and Javed, said that the duo is not entitled to a mandatory injunction as sought, even if the court would have come to the conclusion that they are the owners of the copyright as claimed, since their claim falls within the provisions of Section 38(3)(c) and not under Section 38(3)(b) of Specific Relief Act.
Under Section 38(3)(c) of the Act, a court can grant permanent ban in cases where the defendant invades plaintiff’s right and the invasion is such that compensation in money would not afford adequate relief.
The counsel for the duo, Ravi Kadam, later made an oral plea before a division bench of Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and M.S. Sonak, which asked him to file a written plea and posted the matter for hearing on Tuesday, as the film is set to release on Friday with a premiere on Thursday.