Chetan Bhagat’s “Half Girlfriend” results in defamation suit against author

Controversy’s favorite author, and current judge on the dance show Nach Baliye, Chetan Bhagat has found himself in hot water once again. The author is facing a defamation suit filed by Yuvraj Chander Vijay Singh, descendant of the royal family of Dumraon, against Bhagat and Rupa Publications..The suit was filed for the allegedly incorrect portrayal of the family in Bhagat’s book ‘Half Girlfriend’ published last year..In the book the Dumraon family members were described as ‘alcoholics and compulsive gamblers’ which had Singh fuming. In fact, Singh had sent a legal notice to Bhagat in 2014 demanding a public apology and also retraction of previously published copies of the book..The matter came up for hearing today before Justice Jayant Nath in the Delhi High Court. Nath had earlier sought the reply of Bhagat and the publishing house by April 13 this year..The counsel for the Petitioner submitted that after issuing legal notice to Bhagat, the author had admittedly changed the name of Dumraon to Simraon in the Hindi editions. However, the name was unchanged in the English edition and other languages like Gujarati etc..Bhagat’s counsel sought time to file his reply and said that his client was willing to make the change to Simraon in the English editions as well. When the court asked the petitioner whether he would accept this, the counsel replied that the ‘Damage had already been done’..The Bench poster the matter for further hearing on July 2nd, 2015.