FPJ Legal: Actress Kangana Ranaut moves Bombay HC against copyright infringement FIR

Mumbai: Actor Kangana Ranaut moved the Bombay High Court bench of Justices Sambhaji Shinde and Govinda Sanap on Friday seeking urgent hearing on two different petitions - one challenging a fresh FIR lodged against her under the Copyright Act and the other for renewal of her passport. The bench, however, adjourned the hearings till Monday.

For the first plea, Ranaut's counsel Rizwan Siddiqui argued that she has been booked in a case wherein she hasn't committed any offence. "The FIR under copyrights act is lodged only on the basis of my client's one tweet. She only tweeted that she would soon make a film on the life of Queen Didda of Kashmir", Siddiqui pointed out.

"Just on the basis of this tweet the magistrate has ordered FIR against my client. He hasn't applied his mind and not considered the copyright act properly", Siddiqui argued, adding, "It is a settled law that this act won't apply on historical figures."

"But at the outset there is no offence as such. We have made any film yet. There was just a tweet", the counsel added. At this, chief public prosecutor Deepak Thakre sought an adjournment to respond to the petition.

However, Justice Shinde noted, "This case has come up for the first time before the court. Even notices haven't been issued to the authorities to respond in a reasonable time".

"Why so much hurry?" Justice Shinde asked Siddiqui, who responded that because of this FIR and other FIRs lodged in separate cases, his client isn't able to fly to Hungary as her passport expires by September and she won't be able to attend her shooting there.

"The entire star cast of the film has reached there. My client was to reach Hungary on June 15 but she's yet to go there given these FIRs", Siddiqui pointed out.

Meanwhile, advocate Hrishikesh Mundargi for the producer of the film Dhaakad, which is presently on the pre-production stage at Hungary sought intervention to argue in the matter. "My client is losing Rs 15 lakhs daily. Please consider this aspect", Mundargi submitted. However, the judges adjourned the hearing till Monday.