Bombay High Court refuses to lift stay on movie ‘Shaadi Ke Director Karan aur Johar’

The Bombay High Court on Friday refused to lift the stay on the release of the film 'Shaadi Ke Director Karan aur Johar', holding that the movie’s title prima facie infringes filmmaker Karan Johar’s personality rights. [Karan Johar v India Pride Advisory and Ors].Single-judge Justice RI Chagla, who was hearing the plea by the film's makers to vacate the interim relief, observed that there was a strong prima facie case of violation of Johar’s right to privacy, personality rights and publicity rights.."The Defendants / Respondents in the present case by unauthorizedly using the Plaintiff’s name and personality attributes in the title of the said film prima facie violates the Plaintiff’s personality rights, publicity rights and right to privacy. Further, the Plaintiff has been able to establish that by using his brand name the Respondents are attempting to ride upon the goodwill and reputation of the Plaintiff to earn unjust profits for itself. In the light of these circumstances, the relief sought for by the Plaintiff requires to be granted.", the order read.Hence, the Court made its earlier stay order absolute..The Court had earlier restrained the film’s makers from using the name ‘Karan Johar’ in its title or promotions, noting that such use could mislead the public into believing that Johar was associated with the project.It had granted a stay in favour of Johar on June 13, 2024 after he approached the Court against the film’s producers IndiaPride Advisory, writer Sanjay Singh and director Bablu Singh. The filmmaker argued that the title unlawfully used his name, violating his personality and fundamental rights..According to Johar, the makers of the film were attempting to ride on his goodwill and reputation by incorporating his name in the title. The Court had in June 2024 found merit in this argument, stating that the words ‘Karan’ and ‘Johar’—along with the word ‘Director’—created an impression that Johar was associated with the film.Hence, it granted interim relief to Johar on June 13 stating,“The Defendants are thus creating confusion in the minds of the public at large that the subject film is associated with the Plaintiff as the general public will identify and associate the use of the Plaintiff’s name “Karan Johar” with the title of the subject film solely upon becoming aware of the subject film.”.The judge had then granted the filmmakers the liberty to approach the Court again if needed. However, the Court on Friday rejected their plea to vacate the stay, making the interim relief permanent until the disposal of Johar's suit..The Court noted that the filmmakers were attempting to "ride upon the goodwill and reputation" of Karan Johar and pointed out that merely offering to change "Karan Johar" to "Karan aur Johar" in the dialogues would not resolve the issue. "It would be more appropriate for the Defendants / Respondents to change the use of the name of the Plaintiff and their intent to retain the brand name of the Plaintiff prima facie establishes their intent to ride upon goodwill and reputation of the Plaintiff," the Court remarked. .Additionally, the Court emphasized that the CBFC's certification of the film did not limit Johar's ability to seek legal relief as the certification process do not involve an examination of whether the film infringes upon personal rights, publicity rights, privacy rights, or brand name"Merely because CBFC certificate has been obtained for the said film, the same does not restrict the Plaintiff’s right to take action against the said film for violation of the Plaintiff’s rights," the Court said.. Senior Advocate Zal Andhyarujina, and advocates Rashmin Khandekar, Parag Khandhar, Pranita Saboo, Anaheeta Verma, Pratyusha Dhodda and Shayan Bisney instructed by DSK Legal appeared for Karan JoharAdvocate Ashok Saraogi with advocates Anand Mishra, Sushil Upadhyay, Amit Dubey and Siddharth Singh appeared for Sanjay Singh..[Read Order]