The Supreme Court has directed Pride Media to approach the lower court in a plea pertaining to actor Kangana Ranaut-hosted Lock Upp TV show against Ekta Kapoor owned ALT Balaji.

The bench of Justice M.R. Shah and Justice B.V. Nagarathna refused to interfere in the matter preferred by Pride Media. 

Senior Advocate C.S. Vaidyanathan appeared on behalf of the petitioner and submitted that the Telangana High Court vacated the injunction on the first day without a hearing. 

The suit was filed by Pride Media, a proprietary firm represented by its proprietor Abdul Haleem Baig, for the declaration and permanent injunction under Section 62 of the Copyright Act in the trial court.  It was stated that the proprietary firm was registered under the Telangana Shops & Establishment Act, 1988. The proprietor also became a member of Indian Motion Pictures Association in the process of producing a reality TV show, he contacted writer and director Shantanu Re, a reputed director, and come up with the story by name ‘The Jail’ and prepared script with 22 celebrities. 

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The concept story of ‘The Jail’ is for 100 days and the said story was registered in ‘Screen Writers Association’. It was submitted that they could not produce it due to the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown and when they were gearing up to mobilize production, they came to know about Lock Upp, the show hosted by Kangana Ranaut, which is based on the exactly the same concept. The script of ‘The Jail’ was prepared on March 7, 2018 and registered in the name of ‘The Jail’.  

When Lock Upp released the promo on 19.02.2022, Pride Media filed a suit on 22.02.2022 for interim injunction against ALT Balaji from releasing, exhibiting, publishing the series in the name of Lockupp reality show in theatres, OTT platforms, YouTube and electronic social media. The Additional Chief Judge granted the injunction after going through the video clippings of the trailer.  

ALT Balaji filed an appeal against the injunction before the bench of Justice P. Sree Sudha of Telangana High Court.

It was submitted that ALT Balalji was marketing the show Lock Upp since 01.02.2022 and the public was aware of the said show as per the news clipping, yet Pride Media approached the court at the eleventh hour and obtained the injunction order issuing notice to them.

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The ALT Balaji spent Rs 6,28,43,050on various marketing initiatives in print media, TV, social media, and press reports and it will be live-streamed for 72 days thus, the delay in launching it will have a massive and irretrievable cascading effect on viewership. And if the show is not aired, they will suffer a monetary loss of Rs 17.5 lakh per day.

On the other hand, Pride Media submitted that ALT Balaji has totally copied their concept and infringed their copyright and thus, liable for consequences as per Sections 51 and 52 of the Copyright Act. They further place their reliance on the case R.G. Anand v Deluxe Films wherein it was held that “It is not necessary that the alleged infringement should be an exact or verbatim copy of the original, but it resembles with the original in a large measure is sufficient to indicate that it is a copied.”

After considering all the facts and circumstances, the Telangana High Court set aside the interim injunction imposed by the trial court. 

Case Name- Pride Media Vs ALT Digital Media Entertainment (ALT Balaji) and Ors. 

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The Supreme Court on Thursday granted interim protection from arrest to Bollywood producer Ekta Kapoor on an FIR filed by Czarina Kapoor over objectionable content in the web series XXX Season 2. The series is on Zee 5 and is promoted by ALT Balaji, a concern owned by Kapoor and her mother.

The bench headed by Chief Justice S.A. Bobde, was hearing a petition filed by Kapoor against the order passed by Madhya Pradesh High Court which refused to quash the FIR registered against her in Indore.

Kapoor has been booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and IT Act. She has been booked under Sections 294 (obscene acts and songs) and 298 (Uttering, words, etc., with deliberate intent to wound the religious feelings of any person) and 34 of the Indian Penal Code, Sections 67 (Punishment for publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form) and 67-A (Punishment for publishing or transmitting of material containing sexually explicit act, etc. in electronic form) of the Information Technology (IT) Act, and Section 3 (Prohibition of improper use of emblem) of the State Emblem of India (Prohibition of Improper Use) Act, 2005.

Valmik Sakaragaye, the complainant, had filed the FIR against Ekta Kapoor and two others in Indore for allegedly spreading obscenity and hurting religious feelings with XXX Season 2. The Madhya Pradesh High Court dismissed her plea for quashing the complaint. Kapoor had moved the Madhya Pradesh High Court stating that she did not have any knowledge about the content of the web series as she is neither the director nor the producer of the series.

She mentioned that her name is also not there in the credits of the episodes. This statement was rejected by the High Court citing that Kapoor being the MD of the platform is “presumed to have knowledge” about the contents of the episode.

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In respect to the case, the Apex Court said that the matter is premature as the investigation is still on and no charge-sheet has been filed yet. Till further turn of events, Kapoor has been granted interim protection from arrest.

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Supreme Court grants interim protection from arrest to film and TV producer Ekta Kapoor, the matter relates to charges of spreading obscenity through web series.

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New Delhi (ILNS): The Madhya Pradesh High Court yesterday rejected the petition of producer Ekta Kapoor for quashing the FIR lodged for the controversial scenes of Season 2 of the web series ‘XXX’ aired on the OTT platform Alt Balaji.

An FIR was registered against Kapoor in a local police station five months ago on charges of spreading obscenity through the broadcasting of the web series, offending ‘religious sentiments’, and insulting national symbols.

Justice Shailendra Shukla of the Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court gave a detailed verdict while dismissing the petition filed under Section 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

After reviewing the pleas of all the concerned parties, the single bench said in a 65-page judgment that it seems that the facts of the trial are not such that the court at least uses its extraordinary powers under Section 482 of the CrPC for quashing the FIR at least in respect of Section 67, 67-A of IT Act and Section 294 of IPC.

However, the court has given relief to Kapoor in connection with the allegations made in the FIR for hurting religious sentiments and improper use of national emblems through the telecast of the web series.

The single bench remarked in its judgment that it would be sufficiently fair to say that the provisions of Section 298 (Offending religious sentiments) in IPC and the State Emblem of India (Prohibition of Improper Use) Act has not been found in the case.

Kapoor had filed a petition in the high court denying the allegations leveled against him in the FIR lodged by the city’s Annapurna police on June 5 and pleaded with the court to quash the case.

 A police official said that the FIR came on the complaint of two local residents – Valmik Sakaragaye and Neeraj Yagnik – along with sections 294 (obscenity) and 298 (offending religious sentiments) of the Indian Penal Code, and the state emblem of India ( Prohibition of improper use) Act was registered.

He said in the complaint that Season 2 of the web series “XXX” aired on Kapoor’s established OTT platform Alt Balaji, spread vulgarity in society, and hurt the religious sentiments of a particular community. It also alleged that in one scene of the web series, the national symbols were insulted by presenting the uniform of the Indian Army in a very objectionable manner.

-India Legal Bureau

Delhi High Court expresses concern over a sharp spike in Covid-19 cases in Delhi, slams government for overlooking ground realities. The court says, caution thrown to winds. Attorney General KK Venugopal grants consent for initiation of contempt proceedings against comedian Kunal Kamra, over his tweets about the Supreme Court. Writ filed in the Allahabad High Court seeking removal of Mathura’s Shahi Idgah Mosque, allegedly built on Krishna Janmabhoomi. Patna High Court acquits death-row prisoner, setting aside conviction for murder on grounds of weak circumstantial evidence, court says, residual doubt is a factor for commuting sentence. Indore bench refuses to quash the FIR registered against Ekta Kapoor, in connection to alleged obscenity and dishonour to national emblem in the series titled ‘XXX’, Court holds that case is made out.

Grim Outlook

Outlook magazine’s mega event billed as the “Vinod Mehta Memorial Lecture and Speakout Awards” last week had some awkward moments. For one, chief guest Arun Jaitley, wearing his finance minister’s hat, had some grim tidings for the print media. “The print media should search for a new identity for itself in order to stay relevant,” he said. To add injury to insult, he and the other celebrity speaker, former President Pranab Mukherjee, forgot to say a word about the late Vinod Mehta, the magazine’s founding editor, in whose name the event was held. August 18 was neither his birth nor death anniversary.

Outlook’s decision to host a glitzy cocktail dinner at a Vinod Mehta memorial with heavyweight speakers had very little references to the man or his contribution. Only one award winner of the night—Ashis Nandy—shared a few nuggets about his personal interactions with Mehta. The others ignored him, leaving many to wonder if using his name was a marketing ploy.

Online Openness

The new kid on the block—Khabar-e, an online news portal started by TV’s wunderkind, Ekta Kapoor of Balaji Film fame—is making no effort to hide its political ideology. Its website carries the declaration: “What makes us different is our singular, distinctive voice in a media marketplace mostly defined by condescending, partisan left-liberal elitism. We enter a world where the self-righteousness of the liberal media brooks no dissent and where contempt for majority sentiment reign supreme.” Pretty strong words.

The news stories are obviously pro-BJP, while Rahul Gandhi and the Congress are routinely shamed. There is a lot of Bollywood and television celeb coverage. Ekta is also best remembered for introducing us to the serial Kyuki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, and its feisty main character, Tulsi Irani, played by Smriti Irani, now the feisty minister for I&B! Ekta’s father Jeetendra, was known for wearing white shoes; his daughter wears her heart on her sleeve.

Upping the Ante

Hindustan Times is in the process of reinventing itself. After shutting down a number of editions and bureaus earlier this year to cut flab and costs, it has announced a slew of promotions at the paper’s Delhi headquarters intended to face the digital challenge and sharpen focus and content.

Accordingly, the promotion of deputy executive editor Kunal Pradhan to Delhi Editor is intended to pay more attention to coverage of Delhi and NCR, where most of its readership comes from. Another Deputy Executive Editor, Krrittivas Mukherjee, has been elevated to Managing Editor, Convergence, where he will be tasked with improving coordination between print and digital journalists. HT Media has been slow off the block compared to its rival, The Times of India, when it comes to innovation, and the new promotions, which also include the entertainment and design/photo sections, is a bid to catch up.

Media Management by Modi sarkar

The media has never been under such covert pressure from the government as it is now. Apart from coopting media owners, the Modi government’s new strategy is for ministers and senior bureaucrats to call journalists to their offices or elsewhere and challenge them on articles they have written.

The favourite common phrase they all use is “interpretation of the facts”, which basically means questioning the basis for the story in question.

Two key ministers who are articulate and savvy and appear frequently on TV debates, have been assigned the task of dealing with journalists who are critical of policies while the bureaucrats are generally from the ministries concerned.

The idea is to intimidate journalists with alternate facts and figures but even if the facts do not support the official argument being put forth, the journalist in question tends to be wary of writing stories that are critical of the government.

That, of course, is the basic idea.