Bombay High Court permits Mumbai resident to publish Marathi translation of 'The Spirit’s Pilgrimage' authored by Gandhi’s disciple Mirabehn

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday granted license to a Mumbai resident to produce and publish a Marathi translation of the literary work 'The Spirit's Pilgrimage,' authored by Mahatma Gandhi's disciple Madeleine Slade, also known as Mirabehn. [Anil G Karkhanis v. Kirloskar Press].Single-judge Justice Manish Pitale ruled that specific requirements for grant of the license under Section 32 of Copyright Act and Rule 32 of Copyright Rules were satisfied. ."This Court has considered the petition and the material on record. Section 32 of the said Act and Rule 32 of the said Rules set out specific requirements to be satisfied before such licence for translation can be granted. A perusal of the material on record shows that the aforementioned requirements are satisfied in the present case," the Court observed..The plea was filed by Mumbai resident Anil Karkhanis under section 32 of the Copyright Act, which grants rights to any person to apply for license to reproduce and publish work after the expiration of a specified period from the date of the first publication..During the hearing of the plea in November 2022, the Court, satisfied that prayers in the petition can be considered, had directed the Registrar of Copyrights to publish a notice calling for objections from persons claiming any interest in the copyright over the work within 120 days..The format of the public notice was incorporated in the order and it was directed that additionally, the petitioner would ensure that the notice is published in two newspapers..On Tuesday, the petitioner placed an affidavit before the Court to show that its order was complied with. The notices were published in Free Press Journal on October 30, 2022 and in Loksatta (Marathi) on November 9, 2022. The Registrar published the notice on October 26, 2022 on the official website..The Court recorded that more than 120 days have passed after publication of the notices and that there was no objection raised by any person. Hence, it determined the petition could be allowed, subject to the petitioner abiding by his undertaking that he would secure the royalty payable to the right owner, if any, by depositing the royalty with the High Court. Accordingly, the Court allowed the petition."In the present case, as noted hereinabove, since none has come forward to raise objections in response to the notices published as regards licence for translation sought by the petitioner and more than 120 days have elapsed from the dates of publication of such notices, this Court is convinced that the petition can be allowed by directing the petitioner to abide by the undertakings given in the above quoted paragraphs 4E and F of the petition. It is specifically recorded that the petitioner undertakes to deposit the Royalty in this Court, if and when any person raises a claim in that regard," the Court stated..The petitioner was represented by advocates Amit Jamsandekar and Vignesh Kamath, who were instructed by advocates Oindrilla Mukherjee, Sidhartha Srivastava and Saahil Memon of Link Legal..[Read Order]