Mumbai Court orders registration of FIR against Kangana Ranaut alleging copyright infringement, cheating in connection with book ‘Didda’

Metropolitan Magistrate Court at Bandra directed the Khar police station to register a First Information Report (FIR) against Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut and three others on a complaint by Ashish Kaul, author of the book ‘Didda: Warrior Queen of Kashmir’ claiming Ranaut violated legal rights pertaining to the said book..Didda is purported to be based on history of struggles and vibrancy of Kashmir and its people and has been published by different publishers..Kaul claimed that he conducted extensive research through which he “unearthed facts, stories, opinions, viewpoints and information on Didda’s life that had never been shared publicly or published before, and compiled and penned the most detailed set of Didda till date”..The factual matrix which led to the complaint was that on January 14, 2021, Ranaut announced the title of her new film titled “The Legend of Didda” to be made in collaboration with her sister Rangoli Chandel, brother Akshat Ranaut and one Kamal Jain, producer and partner of Manikarnika..Through his application filed through advocate Adnan Shaikh (Zen Jurists), Kaul claimed that Ranaut knew about the entire story and that it was written, registered and available in the public domain as registered creative and research work done by the complainant.It was alleged that Ranaut induced Kaul to deliver to her the story of his book which she used as a script for her film and the script was valued at an estimated Rs. 5 crores. .Counsel Ravish Zamindar and Yogita Joshi conveyed Kaul’s apprehension to the Court that the same is already in her email which she intends to misuse now..It was Kaul’s contention that Ranaut had breached his trust and acted in an absolutely fraudulent manner and in violation of Kaul’s legal rights..They apprised the Court that Kaul had sent a legal notice to Ranaut but received no reply to it.He also filed a complaint with the Khar police station, Mumbai and when they took no cognizance of the complaint, he also approached the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Crime Branch..Despite that no FIR was lodged against Ranaut, and therefore, the present complaint was filed seeking directions to investigate the matter under Section 156(3) of the CrPC..On prima facie perusal of the complaint and the submission, the Court found that Ranaut seemed to have committed a cognizable offence. Since the allegations were based on comments on the electronic media, a thorough investigation was necessary by experts, the Court opined. .Hence. the Court directed the proceedings of the present matter to be sent towards the concerned police station under Section 156(3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure for necessary action and investigation..[Read Order]