A magistrate court in Aurangabad granted relief to filmmaker Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra in a copyright infringement criminal case against his film Rang De Basanti (2006). A writer named Mustaq Mohsin had claimed that Rakeysh used the script of his film titled Inquilab to make Rang De Basanti. He had filed a complaint before the court and issued process against the director and producer Rohinton Screwvala.
Rakeysh, during the course of the hearing, moved an application for discharge on the ground that no offence is made to issue process. He further stated that Mustaq's complaint didn't make out the ingredients of the offence. He argued that material facts were suppressed to mislead the court.
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Rakeysh further told the court that the script of Rang De Basanti was unique, original and different from that of Inquilab. The director stated that there is no bar to producing identical results by using the same idea in the Copyright Act. Rakeysh alleged that the script of Inquilab is not copyright protected. He stated that 'the intention to prosecute is to gain unwanted publicity by misuse of police and judicial machineries'.
Previously, Rohinton Screwvala had moved the Aurangabad Sessions Court, which observed that the 'criminal proceeding itself was not tenable as the story (Inquilab) was not registered' and that there was no 'prima facie material to prove the offences punishable under the Copyright Act'.
Magistrate VH Khedkar based the decision on the order of the Sessions Court. The judge observed that the revision application had been allowed but not by 'distinguishing the role of accused no. 2 (Screwvala) from present accused (Mehra)' and that order had not been challenged in a High Court. As per a report, Magistrate VH Khedkar said, "In such circumstance, if the charge is framed, it will be groundless charge. Therefore, it is proper to discharge accused No. 2 (Mehra) vide Section 245(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure."
(Source: India Today)
