Bombay High Court refuses to stay release of Shahid Kapoor starrer Jersey

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday refused stay the release of the film 'Jersey' while hearing a copyright infringement suit against its producers and Bollywood actor Shahid Kapoor [Rajneesh Jaiswal v. Dil Raju & Ors]..Justice RI Chagla passed the order on Wednesday in the suit filed by writer Rajneesh Jaiswal, who claimed that the producers had plagiarised his script titled 'The Wall,' registered with the Film Writers Association (now the Screenwriters Association). "In view of the above finding on delay and laches, ad- interim relief sought for which is for stay on the launch of the Hindu dubbed “Jersey” which is to be released on April 22, 2022 in theatres and / or any other platform / electronic media cannot be granted. The ad-interim relief is accordingly, rejected." the order states. .Advocate Vishal Kanade, appearing for Jaiswal, sought for a stay on the release of the movie slated to hit the screens on April 22, on the following grounds: That the concept, story and idea from his script had been illegally plagiarised by makers of "Jersey' and the Telugu film already released in 2019 was based on his script.That there were several overlaps in his script and the stories of the films.That the plagiarised version of his script has been manipulated slightly in order to evade the scanner of plagiarism.The defendants unjustly enriched themselves while causing massive economic loss to Jaiswal. The fact that the Telugu language movie is now being adapted and remade in Hindi in itself shows that huge profits have already been made.That the defendants colluded with each other to cheat and deceive him for wrongful gain by obtaining the script from a third party so that they could avoid paying royalties.That the registration of his script dated to 2007, which far precedes the films released and to be released..Senior Advocate Dr Birendra Saraf, appearing for producer Allu Aravind, stated at the outset that through the suit, Jaiswal was not seeking damages against the Telugu film, but instead on the subsequent Hindi remake made after two years. He contended that Jaiswal's claim that he was not aware of the Telugu film was inconceivable. "The film was dubbed in Hindi and 10 crore people watched it. It was available on most OTT platforms... it is available on YouTube. It is not just made for Telugu speaking people, but across the country, 10 crore people viewing it and with cricket in the theme... It is inconceivable that he has not viewed it. It is unbelievable that the plaintiff did not know about the Telugu film which was viewed widely and much acclaimed," Saraf contended. For copyright to take place, it was pertinent to get access to the material that could be copyrighted, which in this case, was missing, Saraf added to argue that no relief should be granted. The script that had been registered had not been shared with anyone else, and the association with which it was registered has not shared it with different people as per the plaintiff, he submitted. .After hearing both parties at length, Justice Chagla proceeded to reject interim relief to Jaiswal. .Kanade appeared with Advocates Rajesh Singh, Ameet Mehta, Nirav Marjadi, Avani Rathod, Tanaya Patankar, Sanket Tiwari, Jill Rathod, Digisha Modh and Priya Mehra briefed by Solicis Lex. Saraf appeared with Advocates Ameet Naik, Madhu Gadodia, Megha Chandra, Sujoy Mukherji and Shrikant Pillai briefed by Naik Naik and Co. for producer Allu Aravind.[Read order]