New Delhi, March 20 – In a relief to filmmaker Sujoy Ghosh, the Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a case alleging copyright infringement against him over his movie "Kahaani 2", which was released in December 2016.
A bench of Justices P S Narasimha and Alok Aradhe said the proceedings against Ghosh were "obviously frivolous and vexatious".
The bench overturned an order passed by the Jharkhand High Court on April 22 last year, which refused to dismiss the case against the filmmaker.
The top court also dismissed a June 7, 2018, summons order issued by the chief judicial magistrate (CJM) of Hazaribagh in the case.
The bench said the complaint only contained "vague and unsubstantiated allegations" and did not even indicate any similarity between the film and the complainant, Umesh Prasad Mehta's, script.
"Given the above, the only logical conclusion is that the proceedings against the appellant (Ghosh) are obviously frivolous and vexatious," the bench said, while allowing the filmmaker's appeal.
The top court delivered its verdict on Ghosh's plea challenging the high court order.
It stated that there was no evidence to conclude that there was any similarity between the film and the complainant's script.
The court said in the summoning order, the CJM had also failed to find any similarity between the film and the complainant's script.
"Therefore, the summoning order was issued mechanically and lacked proper consideration. The high court also failed to appreciate that the summoning order was issued without proper consideration and in the absence of sufficient evidence," it said.
The bench noted that the available evidence showed that "Kahaani 2" was a sequel to Ghosh's earlier film, "Kahaani".
"The appellant (Ghosh) had registered the synopsis of the film on December 10, 2012, titled 'Kolkata'. The partial script of this film, then titled 'Durga Rani Singh', was registered on October 10, 2013. The full script of this film, then titled 'Karaar', was registered on December 2, 2013. Admittedly, the complainant went to Mumbai on June 29, 2015, and registered his script on July 31, 2015," the bench noted.
It stated that there is no question of copyright infringement, as the complainant's script did not even exist when Ghosh registered his screenplay.
"As a result, the summoning order dated June 7, 2018, issued by the CJM and the order dated April 22, 2025, issued by the high court, are dismissed. The proceedings in the Complaint Case... pending before the CJM, Hazaribagh, are dismissed," the apex court said.
It stated that the principles governing the summoning of an accused in a criminal case and the parameters for dismissing criminal proceedings are well-established.
The bench said summoning an accused in a criminal case is a serious matter, and criminal law cannot be invoked arbitrarily.
"It is not that the complainant only needs to provide two witnesses to support his allegations in the complaint to initiate criminal proceedings. The magistrate's order to summon the accused must be based on a thorough examination of the case and the relevant laws," it said.
The top court said that the magistrate must carefully examine the evidence and determine whether a crime has been committed.
It stated that when an accused seeks to dismiss either an FIR or criminal proceedings on the grounds that they are manifestly frivolous, vexatious, or malicious, the court is obligated to examine the matter carefully.
"In such cases, the court must look beyond the averments in the complaint and carefully consider all relevant circumstances," it said.
The top court noted that according to the complainant, he had travelled to Mumbai and met Ghosh and Prabhat Kumar Thakur in June 2015.
It was alleged that the complainant had sought a recommendation letter required for registering a film script and allegedly left a copy of his script, titled "Sabak", with Ghosh.
The complainant had claimed that he had registered the script, "Sabak", with the Screen Writers Association (SWA) on July 31, 2015.
The top court noted that the complainant had filed a complaint on December 23, 2016, before the SWA, alleging that "Kahaani 2" infringed the copyright of his script "Sabak", and the matter was referred to the SWA's Dispute Settlement Committee.
The complainant had also filed a complaint before the court of CJM, Hazaribagh, alleging that Ghosh had committed offences under the Copyright Act, 1957.
The top court noted that the Dispute Settlement Committee of the SWA, consisting of experts, had on February 24, 2018, held that there was no similarity between Ghosh's film and the complainant's script.
It stated that the CJM passed the summoning order on June 7, 2018, holding that there was sufficient material to proceed against Ghosh and co-accused Thakur, and that a prima facie case under section 63 of the Act was established.
The filmmaker then moved the high court seeking the quashing of the criminal proceedings.
