22/03/2026
โ๏ธ Supreme Court quashes criminal proceedings against filmmaker Sujoy Ghosh (director of Kahaani-2), holding that copyright infringement charges were manifestly frivolous and the summoning order was passed without application of mind.
๐๏ธ Crl.A. No. 1499/2026 (SLP (Crl.) No. 9452/2025), decided 20 Mar 2026
๐ CJM Hazaribagh's summoning order and Jharkhand HC's order refusing to quash proceedings both set aside. Complaint Case No. 1267/2017 quashed entirely.
๐ Appellant's screenplay was registered in 2012-2013, well before the complainant's script 'Sabak' was even created (registered July 2015). Copyright infringement was logically impossible.
๐ก๏ธ SWA's expert Dispute Settlement Committee had already found no similarity between the two works in February 2018, a fact the complainant deliberately suppressed before the CJM.
๐ Court reaffirmed that summoning an accused is a serious matter: the Magistrate must scrutinise evidence and record prima facie satisfaction, not act mechanically.
๐ชง Bench: Justice Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha, Justice Alok Aradhe
๐ Law: Sections 63, 65, 65A Copyright Act 1957, Section 387 IPC, Section 482 CrPC
๐ Criminal Law ยท Intellectual Property / Copyright Law ยท CrPC Quashing
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