The Bombay High Court bench of Justices KR Shriram and NR Borkar has asked Jersey makers to see if they can give credit to writer Rajneesh Jaiswal.
Jaiswal knocked the door of the courtroom against the release of the film, stating that he had registered the film script in 2007 and that the film was a copy of his storyline.
On the other hand, Jersey filmmakers said that a Telugu movie in 2019 was made with the same storyline, which the writer is not claiming as his own, and Jersey is only a remake of the Telugu movie.
Last week, a single bench of the Bombay High Court refused to grant any relief to Jaiswal, because of which, against the ad interim relief being refused, he approached the division bench of the high court.
Telugu film based on Jaiswal’s storyline
The bench at first pointed to the fact that a Telugu movie has already been made and that Jaiswal is not claiming any relief against the Telugu movie but asking for relief against the Hindi film, which is set to be released this month. The bench asked Jaiswal’s lawyer, Vishal Kanade, “How do you come here with a case that he has infringed?”
Kanade replied, “It is my case that I am not a native Telugu speaker and I was unaware of the Telugu movie, and I am not saying that I have given up my claim against the Telugu movie.”
Going beyond the scope of the legal tangles, the bench asked Kanade to take instructions on what Jaiswal wanted. Kanade replied, “My instructions are that if the other side gives credit, then this suit can be decided.”
The bench said that if Jaiswal had approached the court earlier, the filmmakers could have been persuaded. Kanade said that it was only when the film’s promotions came to the fore that the writer came to know. He added that the film has yet to be released.
The court then asked advocate Dr Birendra Saraf, appearing for the filmmakers, to take instructions and added, “Don’t close the door. If you see, whenever movies have been dragged to court, all of those movies have bombed. It is a curse. The sadness is enough to ruin it. Just consider it. If there is something, then think about it. We will keep it at 2.30 pm.
Saraf argued that “it is not even his case that he gave me the script.”
However, the bench said, “Think about it. Come back at 2.30 pm”.
