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A Supreme Court bench of Justices Indira Banerjee and AS Bopanna today stayed the status quo order of Telangana High Court against the release of Amitabh Bachchan starrer “Jhund”. Court allowed the release of the movie on over the top (OTT) platform.

Last month, the Telangana High Court passed an order to maintain the status quo on the film’s OTT release in a plea by filmmaker  Nandi Chinni Kumar. Kumar had accused the makers of the film of copyright infringement two years ago. A settlement also arrived between the parties whereby Kumar received a sum of Rs. 1.3 crores. He, however, alleged that the agreement was fraudulent.

Kumar then moved the lower court seeking withdrawal of the settlement on the ground that there had been a breach of agreement. The Trial Court, however, refused to entertain his plea. He, then, approached the High court wherein a single judge had passed the impugned status quo order.

CA Sundaram, Sr. Adv, mentioned the matter yesterday before a bench headed by the Chief Justice of India and submitted that the movie is slated to be released on the OTT platform on May 6, 2022 and it has already been released in theatres.

He further informed the court that the challenge against the release of the film has already been dismissed and now the Telangana High Court has passed a one-line order to maintain the status quo on its release. Taking note of the submission, the CJI  agreed to list the matter for hearing today.

Today, on hearing the parties, the division bench noted that the order of the Single Judge is against the balance of convenience and that the High Court has overlooked the principles of interim relief. The bench, therefore, stayed the order of the Telangana High Court thereby permitting the release of the film on OTT platform.

Case title:Super Cassettes Industries Pvt Ltd Vs Nandi Chinni Kumar