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Synopsis

The Delhi High Court, recently, stayed further investigation against Yash Raj Films and its chairman, Aditya Chopra, concerning allegations of unlawful use of a film script in the production of Shamshera. 

The bench of Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani held, “this court is of the view that further investigation in the subject FIR may not be warranted since the essential ingredients of the offence under section 63 of the Copyright Act, and consequently of section 420 IPC, are not made-out in the present case”. 

The complainant, a scriptwriter, claimed that his copyrighted work, ‘Kabhu Na Chhadein Khet’, was misused without consent. The complainant, represented by Advocate H.S. Bhullar, alleged that he conceived the script in 2006 and was induced into sharing it with Yash Raj Films under false pretenses. He contended that his copyright had been violated when the production house utilized his script without authorization.

Yash Raj Films, represented by Senior Advocate Abhishek Malhotra, asserted that the allegations had already been addressed in a civil suit. The court had previously examined the matter and dismissed an interim application seeking an injunction against the release of ‘Shamshera’ on OTT platforms. It was argued thar the coordinate bench had concluded that the dissimilarities between the respondent's script and the film outweighed the alleged similarities. It further held that similarities between creative works did not necessarily amount to copyright infringement unless there was substantial copying of the core elements.

Advocate H.S. Bhullar, argued that the petitioners had misrepresented facts and had deliberately misused the complainant’s script. He further contended that discrepancies existed between the script submitted in the civil case and the one presented in the present proceedings, thereby necessitating further investigation.

After a brief hearing, the court took into account its previous findings and determined that permitting further investigation could lead to unnecessary harassment of Yash Raj Films. 

“This court reminds itself that though the law empowers a High Court to stay investigation in a given case, such power is to be exercised with due circumspection and only in cases where it appears necessary to stay investigation to prevent abuse of process and to promote the ends of justice”, the court emphasized. 

However, the court also observed that unless substantial evidence established infringement, the mere presence of similarities did not warrant criminal proceedings. 

Consequently, it exercised its discretionary power to stay the investigation into FIR, pending further hearings. The matter was scheduled for the next hearing on May 7, 2025, with the court directing the respondents to file their status report in the interim. 

For Petitioner: Senior Advocate Abhishek Malhotra with Advocate Anukriti Trivedi
For Respondent: Advocates H.S. Bhullar and Aditya Raj
For State: Additional Public Prosecutor Manjeet Arya 
Case Title: Yash Raj Films Private Limited v State (CRL.M.C. 635/2025)