Salman Khan gets interim relief as Mumbai court orders freeze on access to "Selmon Bhoi" game on Playstore

Bollywood actor Salman Khan secured an ad-interim order from the Mumbai City Civil Court which directed Parody Studios Private Limited and Google LLC to take down or recall access to a game "Selmon Bhoi" available on Google Play Store on the ground that it continued to make commercial gain by causing damage to Khan's reputation..Additional Sessions Judge KM Jaiswal stated that till the next date of hearing, the defendants should not relaunch the game or make any derogatory comments against Khan by making the game available. .The game seemed very similar to Khan’s identity, the judge observed while passing order in Khan's favour. He observed that Khan had not consented to install, prepare or run the game and hence he was deprived of his right to privacy and his image was tarnished..The order was passed in a notice of motion filed in a suit by Khan seeking perpetual injunction against the company Parody and Google. Khan stated in his plea that the title of the game - “Selmon Bhoi” sounded phonetically similar to what he was popularly called by his fans - “Salman Bhai”. He added that the images in the game were also a caricature version of himself..He also submitted that the game included scenes which were similar to the alleged events of “hit and run case” and “blackbuck case” involving Khan and since both cases were sub-judice before courts, such depictions would amount to interference with administration of justice.Khan’s contention was that with the game, the defendants intentionally gained commercial advantage by exploiting the personality rights of Salman Khan without seeking his consent. .Khan submitted that his reputation and goodwill was at risk by displaying factually incorrect and misleading information for which the defendants are not entitled to any protection under Article 19 of the Constitution of India. Khan also submitted that his right to privacy and to reputation under Article 21 of the Constitution of India were violated. .The Court observed that a prima facie case for ad-interim relief was made out as the defendants had used Khan’s identity for their commercial gain. The Court proceeded to grant relief noting that if not granted, the same will lead to irreparable loss to Khan which cannot be compensated in terms of money..Khan was represented by Advocate Pradeep Gandhy who was briefed by team from DSK Legal comprising of Advocates Anand Desai (Managing Partner), Chandrima Mitra (Partner), Parag Khandhar (Associate Partner) and Prachi Garg (Principal Associate).