SC dismisses copyright case against Sujoy Ghosh, calls allegations over Kahaani 2 baseless

In a major relief for filmmaker Sujoy Ghosh, the Supreme Court has quashed a long-standing copyright infringement case related to his 2016 thriller Kahaani 2: Durga Rani Singh, terming the allegations “baseless” and an abuse of legal process.

The apex court found no evidence of similarity between Ghosh’s film and the complainant’s script, emphasising that frivolous litigation must not be allowed to burden the justice system.

The Supreme Court, in its ruling, highlighted that the complaint filed by Umesh Prasad Mehta, who claimed that his script Sabak was copied for Kahaani 2, lacked any substantial material evidence.

The Bench, comprising Justices PS Narasimha and Alok Aradhe, noted that the complaint failed to establish even a basic comparison between the works in question, with vague allegations unsupported by facts.

The legal battle began when Mehta alleged he had shared his script with Sujoy Ghosh in 2015, prompting a magistrate court in Hazaribagh to issue summons in 2018 under the Copyright Act. When the Jharkhand High Court declined to quash the case, Ghosh approached the Supreme Court, seeking relief against what his counsel, Senior Advocate Siddhartha Dave, described as a misuse of legal process.

The apex court agreed, pointing out that witness statements and other materials presented by the complainant failed to prove any copying. The ruling also referenced the Screen Writers Association’s Dispute Settlement Committee, which had previously concluded that there was no resemblance between the two works a fact not disclosed to the magistrate at the time of issuing summons.

Additionally, Ghosh’s script for Kahaani 2 was registered before the complainant’s script was created, further negating claims of infringement.

The Supreme Court emphasized the importance of protecting creators from frivolous or malicious lawsuits and set aside both the magistrate’s summoning order and the High Court’s ruling, effectively ending the proceedings.

Kahaani 2: Durga Rani Singh, starring Vidya Balan, Arjun Rampal, and Jugal Hansraj, follows the story of a woman living under an assumed identity while protecting a child. The film, a spiritual sequel to the 2012 blockbuster Kahaani, blends crime, suspense, and hidden pasts, and has since remained a key milestone in Ghosh’s career.