Delhi HC rejects plea by Sushant Singh Rajput's father to stay 'fictional' movie

The Delhi High Court on Thursday declined to stay the release of movie, 'Nyay: The Justice,' purportedly based on the life of late Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput.

A bench of Justice Sanjeev Narula said the right to present fictional stories cannot be curbed purely on an unsubstantiated hypothesis, and no gag order can be issued against production and release of the film.

"The artistic freedom to create fictional works cannot be controlled, limited, or confined within set boundaries. An artist’s inspiration can come from any source, and the court cannot filter real-life events," the bench said.

The court dismissed an application filed by Krishna Kishore Singh, Sushant’s father, against movie and other ventures using his son's name or likeness in the form of a biopic or story. The movie producers, for their part, claimed it to be work of fiction, neither a biopic nor based on true events.

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Under the Copyright Act, 1957, facts which are historical, biographical, or news of the day cannot be copyrighted. Anyone is entitled to make movies on events which have actually occurred, it said.

In his suit, Singh sought a restraining order against some of the upcoming or proposed movie projects 'Nyay: The Justice,' 'Suicide or Murder; a star was lost', 'Shashank' and an unnamed crowd-funded film, claiming those took advantage of the situation for commercial gains.

The court also noted the right to privacy has been invoked of the deceased and his family, but the submissions on this aspect are "unspecific and vague" without any definite instance.

"If information of events which have occurred is already in the public domain, one cannot plead any violation of right to privacy in case a movie is inspired from such events," the court said.

Several news reports, articles, write-ups, features, videos, etc. on the actor's demise were widely available in public domain with no objections from the plaintiff, it pointed out.

The movie, produced by Sarla A Saraogi and Rahul Sharma, and directed by Dilip Gulati, is scheduled for release on Friday.

The father of the actor, who died on June 14, 2020 under mysterious circumstances, contended the movie would also affect the right to fair trial as the CBI probe was still on.

The court, however, found no ground to demonstrate as to how the film would impair the fairness in investigation or trial. It termed the arguments as "unreasonable apprehension with vague possibilities".

"In fact, the accused persons, named in the FIR have not come forward claiming prejudice. The right to fair trial is a valuable right, however, it must be remembered that the investigative agencies and judicial system do not rely on cinematographic films for the purpose of investigation or judicial pronouncements," the court said.

It also prima facie found merit in the contention of movie makers that the posthumous privacy right is not permissible.

With specific disclaimer, the court prima facie does not find any element to hold that the film would lead the public to believe that it is a true story or a biopic that has been authorised or endorsed by the plaintiff, the bench added.