[BREAKING] Gangubai Kathiawadi: "Is it possible to change title:" Supreme Court asks

The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the producers of the movie Gangubai Kathiwadi whether it would be possible to change the title of the movie, in light of the several cases pending before courts seeking to halt its release scheduled for Friday, February 25 [Babuji Rawji Shah v. Hussain Zaidi & ors]..A Bench of Justices Indira Banerjee and JK Maheshwari was considering an appeal filed against the order of the Bombay High Court that continued the stay on the summons issued by a Mumbai court in a criminal defamation complaint against the producers of Gangubai Kathiawadi, actress Alia Bhatt, and authors S Hussain Zaidi and Jane Borges, who wrote the book on which the film is based..The bench sought to know from the petitioner counsel if the prayer could be acceded to. "Is changing the title possible?" asked Justice Banerjee.To this the petitioner maintained that they would press for an interim stay of the release of the movie.The respondents argued that with a day to go before the movie is released, a name change "would not be possible.".The suit filed by Gangubai's adopted son had sought an injunction against Bhansali Productions from producing, directing or airing the promo of any film based on said novel, including Alia Bhatt-starter Gangubai Kathiawadi..It is the contention of the petitioner that the balance of convenience in a defamation suit must always be in favour of the defamed person. Moreover, its is stated that the Bombay City Civil Court was not justified in dismissing the suit under Order VII Rule 11(d) CPC merely by placing reliance on two judgments of the Madras High Court which should only have a persuasive value on the Court..The hearing in the matter will continue tomorrow. Advocates Arun Kumar Sinha, Rakesh Singh and Sumit Sinha appeared for the petitioner.Senior Advocate Siddhartha Dave and TMT Law Practice appeared for Bhansali Productions.