Supreme Court Quashes Criminal Proceedings Against Filmmaker Sujoy Ghosh In 'Kahani 2' Copyright Case
The Supreme Court on Friday quashed criminal proceedings against filmmaker Sujoy Ghosh in a copyright infringement case relating to the film “Kahani 2," setting aside the summoning order issued against him by the CJM Hazaribagh and the subsequent refusal of the Jharkhand High Court to quash the case.
A bench of Justices Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha and Alok Aradhe, while allowing Ghosh's petition, said:
“The result summoning order dated 07.06.2018 passed by the CJM and order dated 22.04.2025 passed by the high court are quashed and set aside. The proceeding in complaint case pending before the CJM, Hazaribagh is quashed and set aside. Accordingly the petition is allowed.”
The case arose from a criminal complaint filed against filmmaker Sujoy Ghosh alleging copyright infringement under Section 63 of the Copyright Act. The complainant claimed that he had authored a film script titled “Sabak” and had shared a copy with Ghosh while seeking a recommendation for copyright registration.
It was alleged that Ghosh later used the script to produce the film “Kahani 2” without consent, leading to initiation of criminal proceedings and issuance of a summons by the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Hazaribagh on June 7, 2018.
Challenging the proceedings, Ghosh approached the Jharkhand high court under Section 482 CrPC seeking quashing of the case. He argued that there was no proper application of mind by the Magistrate and no material to establish copyright infringement.
The high court on April 22, 2025 refused to interfere. It reiterated that at the stage of issuance of summons, the court is only required to examine whether there are sufficient grounds to proceed, and not to evaluate the merits of the case or conduct a mini-trial.
It further held that allegations of copyright infringement involved factual issues requiring evidence, which could only be tested during trial. The high court dismissed the petition, allowing the criminal proceedings against the petitioner to continue.
Ghosh then approached the Supreme Court on July 2, 2025. He denied the allegations, claiming that the script of Kahaani 2 had been written in 2012 and registered with the Screen Writers Association in December 2013, much before the complainant's script.
The Supreme Court had reserved its verdict on March 10, after hearing the parties, which has now quashed the criminal proceedings.