The High Court on Monday asked whether it was the “idea” or the “literary work” per se that had infringed upon the copyright of the novel ‘Abhinetriya Antharanga’ by Bhagya Krishnaswamy who has claimed that the upcoming Kannada film ‘Abhinetri’ is based on her work. 

Bhagya had earlier moved a lower court, contending that her novel had been serialised in a Kannada weekly magazine in 2003 and that the film ‘Abhinetri’ was based on that work. 

Bhagya had said she had not been given any credit for the film’s story and that her novel had been used without her consent. The lower court had issued an order staying the screening of the film till further hearing, and taking possession of the script and the film print. 

Pooja Gandhi, actor and producer of the film, then approached the High Court, pleading that she be allowed to complete the shooting to release the film. During the hearing, her counsel said 15 days of shooting had remained and the court should allow her to complete it. Declining the permission, Justice B V Nagarathna ordered that a notice be issued to the film’s director Satish Pradhan, and directed the counsel for Bhagya to file objections. 

Petition on pay hike

The HC on Monday allowed a petition by assistant professors at an aided engineering college seeking directions from the court to the institution for implementing the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) pay scale as per the sixth pay commission. 

Justice L Narayanaswamy allowed the petition as the petitioners were entitled to arrears from 2010 and a hike in their pay scale as per the sixth pay commission. 

Dr SR Jayaram, an assistant professor at Malnad College of Engineering, Hassan, and four others had approached the court as some non-teaching staff, including systems analyst  and research officers, had been left out when the pay commission was implemented in 2010.