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Synopsis

The Delhi High Court recently dismissed an application seeking direction to stay the release of Hansal Mehta’s movie ‘FARAAZ’ based on the 2016 Dhaka terrorist attack. The plea sought directions against Hansal Mehta, Bhushan Kumar Dua, Anubhav Sinha, and M/s. Mahana Films.

A bench of Justice Neena Bansal Krishna noted, "The plaintiffs have not been able to establish any of the three limbs i.e. prima facie case, the balance of convenience or irreparable loss or injury in their favour".

The order has been passed in a plea filed by the parents of the two victims of the attack namely Abinta and Tarishi who lost their lives in the Holey Artisan after the attack. The petitioners sought direction to stop the makers from using the names of their daughters and their best friend Faraaz as it would amount to the infringement of their fundamental right to privacy and fair trial.

The plea stated that "there is a reasonable apprehension of the plaintiffs that the movie “FARAAZ” has been created to show Faraaz Ayaaz Hossain as a protagonist or something of the attack, as the movie has been named after Faraaz Ayaaz Hossain. However, if such a depiction is made, it shall be completely false as the plaintiffs were amongst the first witnesses to meet the survivors after the attack and are well aware of the series of events. Glorifying or exaggerating one victim of the attack will be a gross misinterpretation of the facts if the movie is portrayed to have been based on true events/inspired by real events".

Whereas the counsel appearing for the makers argued that the movie is a fictional work of the July 2016 attack and it has been depicted with the utmost sensitivity and is inspired by the material available in the public domain. Additionally, they have not indicated the involvement of the plaintiff's daughters in the film, the counsel told. 

“Moreover, the film is not about the daughters of the plaintiff, and no character in the film has the names of the daughters of the plaintiff. It does not contain any reference to the names or the characters of the daughters. The defendants have never claimed that the film is a true exact reproduction of the July 2016 attack,” the counsel for the filmmakers argued.

Another submission of the makers was that there are innumerable movies, documentaries, and books on the incidents of what had transpired that night and therefore, privacy rights could not be exercised based on such public records. "With due respect to the deceased daughters of the grieving mothers, privacy rights would not be assignable to their mothers or be posthumously available to them. In other words, defamation would not survive on the death of any person," they said.

Therefore, it was the case of the creators that the movie is permissible under the law, and they did not require any consent from the grieving mothers of the deceased.

The High Court while pronouncing its judgment vacated the ad-interim order that had temporarily stayed the makers from screening the movie. The court dismissed the application for temporary injunction filed by the grieving mothers thereby allowing the movie to be released.

While dismissing the application, Justice Bansal noted that “the defamation, as already discussed above, is a personal right and is not pre-emptive in nature.”

The respondent informed LawBeat that Faraaz is a movie based on the Bangladesh terror attacks. The movie is inspired by the horrendous night that shook Bangladesh when terrorists entered a famous bakery, Holey Artisan Café in Bangladesh. The fictional story revolves around Faraz’s bravery and humanity amid a horrific terror who was one of the victims of the terror attack.

Senior Advocate Saurabh Kirpal, along with Advocates Shyel Trehan, Hitesh Jain, Malvika Kapila Kalra, Pooja Tidke, Monisha Mane Bhangale, Nikhil R. Ahuja, Nikita Menon, Tanwangi Shukla, Tanima Panigraphi, Nikhil Arora and Rohan Poddar instructed by Parinam Law Associates appeared for the respondents.

Case Title: RUBA AHMED & ORS. Vs. HANSAL MEHTA & ORS.