Delhi High Court Orders Takedown Of Pirated Copies Of Sanjay Dutt-Starrer Aakhri Sawal

A day after its theatrical release, the Delhi High Court protected the Sanjay Dutt-starrer Aakhri Sawal from online piracy, directing Google and Telegram to take down infringing content within 72 hours and granting a dynamic+ injunction to tackle newly discovered infringing links during the pendency of the suit.

Justice Tushar Rao Gedela passed the ex parte ad interim order on May 16, 2026, on a suit filed by Nikhil Nanda Motion Pictures LLP, the film's production house, after it alleged that pirated copies and infringing content were circulating across YouTube channels, Telegram groups, and file-sharing platforms including TeraBox and Internet Archive, while promotional material such as posters, teasers, and trailers had also been used without authorisation even before the film's release.

The film, released on May 15, revisits significant events and ideological debates in India's constitutional and political history, including the Emergency, the demolition of the Babri Masjid, and the debate surrounding the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi.

The production house told the court that the film's trailer, released on May 8, garnered close to 10 million views within three days.

Finding that the plaintiff, Nikhil Nanda Motion Pictures, had made out a prima facie strong case, the court held that the balance of convenience lay in its favour and that the irreparable loss and injury could not be adequately compensated in monetary terms.

The court noted the plaintiff's submission that the modus operandi of such infringers was “like a hydra-headed monster which keeps re-appearing in different forms despite injunction orders being passed.”

Google LLC and Telegram FZ LLC were directed to take down all infringing URLs, channels, listings and content identified in Annexure A to the order within 72 hours of receiving it.

The Department of Telecommunications and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology were also directed to issue necessary notifications to internet service providers and concerned intermediaries for blocking access to the identified infringing online locations.

Under the dynamic+ injunction, the production house has been permitted to notify Google and Telegram directly, along with supporting evidence, of any newly discovered infringing URLs, posts, listings, or content during the pendency of the suit, upon which the platforms must take them down forthwith.

For newly discovered infringers, the plaintiff has been granted liberty to approach the Joint Registrar for impleadment.

The matter is next listed before the Joint Registrar on August 6, 2026, for completion of service and pleadings and before the court on October 14, 2026.