‘Scoop’ Series: HC Refuses To Grant Urgent Reliefs To Chhota Rajan

The Bombay high court on Friday declined to grant any urgent reliefs to jailed gangster Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje aka Chhota Rajan after the convict sought a permanent injunction against the release of the Netflix series ‘Scoop’.

The court, however, permitted Rajan to amend the commercial intellectual property suit which he has filed and include the challenge to use his photograph in the TV series without his permission.

Rajan claimed that his photograph was part of his personality rights and that using it in the series without permission was a copyright violation. Senior defence advocate Mihir Desai informed the vacation bench of justice SG Dige that he was seeking a stay on the series or removal of his name as the names of all other characters had been changed except his own. The court allowed amendment of the suit and posted the hearing to June 7.

When the hearing commenced on Friday, the court asked Desai how his challenge could be dealt with in an intellectual property suit, to which it was informed that Rajan’s facial image was used in the series. “I have a copyright on my image then permission has to be sought to use it,” submitted Desai. The senior advocate added that Rajan’s name and photograph were used while those of all others were changed.

“Only my face is shown. I am shown as the one behind the murder. I am convicted. I am not disputing that. My appeal is pending. But should I be portrayed like this in front of the whole world?” argued Desai.

Senior advocate Ravi Kadam for Netflix submitted that Rajan had been convicted by the trial court and till his appeal in the HC was not decided he would be considered a convict.

On a query by the bench as to what would be the consequences of the HC acquitting him, Kadam said that all six episodes in the series had already been published on Netflix. Kadam urged Rajan to watch the episodes himself.

However, Desai submitted that Rajan who is in Tihar jail does not have access to a television.

In his suit, Rajan has objected to his picture and voice being used by filmmaker Hansal Mehta and the owners of Matchbox Shots LLP in the ‘Scoop’ series which is based on the biographical book ‘Behind the Bars In Byculla: My Days in Prison’ of journalist Jigna Vora. Vora was accused of murdering a fellow journalist Jyotirmoy Dey (J Dey). Dey was killed near his residence in Powai on July 11, 2011.

Rajan approached the HC on Thursday through advocate Akash Pandey after his wife saw the trailer of the series and two interviews of Mehta on news networks on May 22 and 25. Rajan sought a stay on the release of the series and the removal of the trailer as it showed his photo and voice without seeking his permission which was an infringement of his rights.

An interim application filed in the suit seeking urgent reliefs stated that making any “direct or indirect reference to the plaintiff without receiving prior consent amounts to infringement of his rights, which could be passed on as defamation as well.”

It added that if the series was allowed to be aired, his fundamental rights to privacy would be infringed as nearly 200 million subscribers of Netflix would view the series and would be prejudiced against him, hence, the court should issue a permanent injunction against the release of the series.

After hearing the submissions, the bench declined to grant any urgent reliefs and allowed Rajan to amend the suit and also directed Mehta and Netflix to file their replies.