Directed by Sujoy Ghosh | Photo credit: Special arrangement
The Supreme Court on Friday (March 20, 2026) quashed the proceedings pending before a Jharkhand court against filmmaker Sujoy Ghosh in a case of alleged copyright infringement related to his film Kahaani 2.
Justices PS Narasimha and Alok Aradhe allowed Ghosh’s plea challenging the Jharkhand High Court’s order (dated April 22, 2017) refusing to quash the proceedings against him.
“The summons order dated June 7, 2018 passed by the CJM (Chief Judicial Magistrate) and the order dated April 22, 2025 passed by the High Court are quashed and set aside,” the bench said while allowing Ghosh’s plea.
In July last year, the apex court issued a notice to the Jharkhand government on Ghosh’s plea to quash the case pending in the CJM Hazaribagh court.
The filmmaker filed an action in the High Court against the decision of the CJM court, which made a prima facie case of copyright infringement against him under Section 63 of the Copyright Act, 1957.
The High Court dismissed Ghosh’s suit, noting that he would not conduct a “mini-trial” at the quashing stage and the issues could be tested during the trial.
The complainant, Umesh Prasad Mehta, had written the script of the film Sabak, which was notarized by Hazaribagh to obtain its copyright.
The complainant reportedly met Ghosh and received a letter of recommendation, which was necessary to obtain the copyright of the film script.
Ghosh allegedly kept a photocopy of the complainant’s script and knowingly infringed the complainant’s copyright by producing the film Kahaani 2.
The film was watched by the complainant at a film center in Hazaribagh.
After watching the film, the complainant alleged that Ghosh had infringed his copyright by stealing his script and infringing his copyright.
Published – 20 March 2026 12:24 IST
