The Supreme Court Friday quashed criminal proceedings against filmmaker Sujoy Ghosh in a copyright infringement case relating to the film Kahaani 2.
The apex court set aside both the summoning order issued by the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM), Hazaribagh, and a subsequent order of the Jharkhand High Court, declining to interfere.
According to legal portal Live Law, a bench comprising Justices Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha and Alok Aradhe allowed Ghosh’s petition and 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 stemmed from a criminal complaint alleging copyright infringement under Section 63 of the Copyright Act. The complainant claimed authorship of a script titled Sabak and alleged that a copy had been shared with Ghosh while seeking a recommendation for copyright registration.
According to the complaint, Ghosh later used the script to produce Kahaani 2 without consent, leading to criminal proceedings and issuance of summons by the CJM, Hazaribagh on June 7, 2018.
Ghosh challenged the proceedings before the Jharkhand High Court under Section 482 of the CrPC, contending that the Magistrate had failed to apply judicial mind and that there was no material to establish copyright infringement.
The High Court, however, refused to quash the case on April 22, 2025. It held that at the stage of issuing summons, courts are only required to assess whether sufficient grounds exist to proceed, and not to examine the merits or conduct a mini-trial.
It further observed that allegations of copyright infringement involve factual disputes that must be tested during trial, and dismissed the petition.
Ghosh subsequently moved the Supreme Court on July 2, 2025, denying the allegations. He submitted that the script of Kahaani 2 had been written in 2012 and registered with the Screen Writers Association in December 2013, predating the complainant’s script.
The apex court had reserved its verdict on March 10 after hearing both sides, and has now set aside the criminal proceedings.
