FIR against Kangana for ‘copyright violation’
The Khar police in India's Mumbai on Friday registered an FIR against actor Kangana Ranaut, her sister Rangoli Chandel, brother Akshat Ranaut and one Kamal Kumar Jain for allegedly announcing a film on Didda, a warrior princess, without the knowledge of an author who claims to have exclusive copyright to the story of Didda.
According to the police, the complainant is author Ashish Kaul, who has written a book called “Didda, the Warrior Queen of Kashmir”.
Kaul told the police that he had earlier approached Ranaut and emailed her some parts of the story. He said he was shocked when the actor recently announced a movie on the subject “without his knowledge”. Ranaut is said to have replied then that her movie is not based on Kaul’s book.
Kaul then approached the Bandra magistrate court and made an application for registration of an FIR under 156 (3) CrPC against Ranaut. The court ruled in Kaul’s favour.
“Based on a court order we have lodged a FIR under sections 406, 415, 418, 120 (b) and 34 read with sections 51, 63, and 63 A of Copyright Act against the four accused,” said Gajanan Kabdule, senior police inspector of Khar police station.
Speaking on behalf of Kangana Ranaut, her advocate Rizwan Siddiquee told The Indian Express, “I shall obtain a copy of the entire proceedings from the court and then I shall give a detailed statement. At this juncture I cannot comment without perusing the complaint in detail.”
In September 2020, Kaul had sent an email to Ranaut which had contents of his book on Didda. “The description of Didda as identified by Kangana Ranaut to promote her film is identical to what is set out in my book,” Kaul told The Indian Express.
In January, Kaul had sent a legal notice to Ranaut. When he did not get a desired response, he approached the Bandra court.
Kaul said he faces risk of financial losses as he has been in talks with big producers for making a film based on his book and the script, which has been registered since 2017.
Source: The Indian Express
