HC Stays Probe in Sony Pictures' Defamation Case Against 'Scam 1992'
Scam 1992 is directed by Hansal Mehta and stars Pratik Gandhi in the lead.
Pratik Gandhi as Harshad Mehta in Scam 1992.
The Bombay High Court has stayed the Pune police investigation against owner of SonyLIV app, Sony Pictures Network India Pvt Ltd, in a case registered against them, as per a report by India Today. An FIR was filed by Karad Urban Co-operative Bank (KUCB) stating trademark infringement in the Scam 1992 web show.
KUCB alleged in their complaint that one of the episodes displayed a logo in the background that resembled the bank's trademark logo. KUCB claimed that since the logo resembled the one which was on a calendar behind one of the characters, it caused serious damage to the 'financial, commercial and social reputation' of the bank.
Advocate Shirish Gupta, representing the OTT platform, stated in his argument that the scene showing the logo appeared only for three seconds. Gupta added that trademark infringement sections cannot be invoked as it should be for the purpose of trade. In this case, it was only for entertainment, he argued.
When the bench asked about the investigating officer, Government pleader J P Yagnik accepted it was indeed a police inspector probing the case. "The investigation can't proceed when the law states specifically who can investigate. Let the state reflect, and we are staying the probe", the court stated.
Directed by Hansal Mehta, Scam 1992 is about the stockbroker Harshad Mehta, who committed the 1992 Indian stock market scam. It stars Pratik Gandhi, Shreya Dhanwanthary, Sharib Hashmi among others.
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