The Delhi High Court on Thursday refused to stay the release of the film Faraaz, directed by Hansal Mehta.

Faraaz is based on the 2016 Dhaka terror attack and is scheduled for release tomorrow.

The mothers of two girls who died in the attack had approached the High Court seeking an injunction against the film’s release.

A single-judge bench had rejected their plea in October, which made them file an appeal in the higher court.

A Division Bench of Justice Siddharth Mridul and Justice Talwant Singh refused to stay the release but directed the producer of the film to scrupulously adhere to the disclaimer that the film is inspired by real events, but a work of fiction.

The Bench also went through the submission made by the producers’ counsel that there has been no use of any picture or image of the petitioners’ daughters in the movie.

Advocate Shyel Trehan, the counsel for the producers, has informed the bench that the film has been shown at many international film festivals, and has been distributed to cinema halls and so any change in it would be very difficult.

The petitioners said the names of the characters in the film sound phonetically similar to names of the girls who died. The petitioner also argued that the film shows real footage of the incident.

Justice Mridul reasoned and said that the memory span of people is not always great, besides no one remembers the names after six years. He added that this is not a sole incident as a fictional film can be based on true events.

The petitioner counsel was asked by the Court to obtain instructions about how they want to prosecute the matter now, and listed it for further consideration after two weeks.

The Delhi High Court has asked the parties to amicably settle the matter while hearing a suit filed by the families of two victims, Tarishi Jain and Abinta Kabir, who died in the 2016 Dhaka terrorist attack, against the release of the film Faraaz based on the 7/16 Bangladesh Attack. 

A single-judge bench of Justice Asha Menon sought the views of the parties, especially the defendants, regarding the pre-screening of the movie Faraaz in the presence of the plaintiffs, to allay their fears and redress their concerns.

The Delhi High Court had already issued notice to the makers of the movie. After the defendants’ counsel was granted time on August 26, 2021 to seek instructions for amicably resolving the issue in hand, the matter was taken up today. Both the sides addressed their respective arguments on merit for sometime.

However, the counsel for the defendants requested that defendants are ready and willing to meet the plaintiffs to resolve the issues amicably. Accordingly, on the oral assurances of the defendants’ counsel not to proceed with the movie till the next date of hearing, the matter has now been adjourned to November 15, 2021. The court has clarified that in case the matter is not amicably resolved, the same shall be decided on merit on the basis of pleadings of the parties.

The plaintiff no. 1 was represented by Sanjeev Sindhwani, Senior Advocate and plaintiff No. 2 was represented by Upender Thakur, Advocate assisted by Yatin Grover, Advocate and Prateek Kumar, Advocate.

The Delhi High Court today has issued notice in a suit filed by families of two victims, Tarishi Jain and Abinta Kabir, died in the 2016 Dhaka terrorist attack, against the release of the film Faraaz based on the 7/16 Bangladesh Attack. 

Today, the matter was listed before the single-judge bench of Justice Asha Menon. Ruba Ahmed (Plaintiff No. 1) and Tulika Jain (Plaintiff No. 2), through their counsels Upender Thakur and Yatin Grover, Advocates, approached the Court objecting to the film Faraaz, which revolves around the terrorist attack and a third victim, Faraaz Hossain.

The director, Hansal Mehta, is the first defendant and the co-producers – Bhushan Kumar Dua (Chairman, T-Series), Anubhav Sinha, and Mahana Films are the remaining defendants in the suit.

In the 2016 Dhaka attack, the plaintiffs lost their daughters Abinta Kabir and Tarishi Jain along with their best friend Faraaz. On July 1, 2016, all three were having dinner at the Holey Artisan Café in Dhaka when the terrorist attack took place, wherein all three died along with several other victims.  

During the arguments today, the Court was apprised of the attack, about the children and why the present case has been filed. The court was shown the interviews given by the movie makers and also the legal notices sent on behalf the plaintiffs. It was apprised that in interviews, the defendants are openly stating that the movie is based on the true events whereas in reply to the legal notice (sent on behalf of the plaintiffs), they have stated that the movie is fictional.

During the argument, the Court was also shown the replies given by the defendant which were vague in nature and give rise to apprehension that the defendants are using different entities to somehow make the movie despite strong objections taken by the plaintiffs. Similar action was taken by the plaintiffs in 2020 was also shown, however, after the legal notices, the plan to make a movie on the attack was shelved by those production houses.

The lawyers, Upender Thakur and Yatin Grover, stated that by making the movie on the plaintiffs’ daughters without taking their consent, the defendants are violating the plaintiffs’ Right to Privacy and Right to be Forgotten. If the defendants include any content which is false, derogatory or defamatory in nature towards the daughters of the plaintiffs, the defendants shall also be liable to defamation and for that purpose they have also sought a pre-screening of the movie before its release and if any portion is found to be in violation, they have prayed for its immediate injunction and damages. It was further stated that since some arrests pertaining to the said attack took place in India, the right to fair trial will also be compromised in case this movie is allowed to be released.

After hearing the arguments, the Court issued short notice to the defendants and directed them to appear before the court on October 28. Senior Advocate Jayant Kumar Mehta argued on behalf of Plaintiff 1 and Upender Thakur, Advocate argued the matter on behalf of Plaintiff 2.

They had previously served legal notices on filmmaker Hansal Mehta asking him not to release the film.

Case Name- Ms Ruba Ahmed & Ors Vs Mr Hansal Mehta & Ors. 

CS(OS) No. 498 of 2021