Hindustan Times ST (Mumbai)

HC stays Pune Police probe against web series host, producer

- KAY Dodhiya

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court (HC) has temporaril­y restrained Pune Police from continuing their probe in the FIR registered against Sony Pictures. The investigat­ion was initiated based on a criminal defamation FIR registered at the behest of Karad Urban Cooperativ­e Bank for the alleged depiction of its logo in one of the episodes of the web series “Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story.”

The division bench of justices SS Shinde and NJ Jamadar, while hearing the petitions filed by Sony Pictures and Sameer Nair, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Applause Entertainm­ent Pvt Limited which produced the web series, was informed that the petitions sought to quash the FIR filed in July and a stay on the probes till the pleas were decided.

The FIR stated that in the third episode of the web series, a logo resembling the bank’s trademark was displayed in the background which has caused serious damage to its reputation.

According to the petition by Sony, the web series was owned and produced by Applause Entertainm­ent and it was a cinematic adaptation of the book titled “The Scam: Who won, Who lost, Who got away”. The petition stated that a disclaimer -- that the series does not bear any resemblanc­e to any actual person and hence was not liable for any content -- was displayed prior to every episode.

The petition further states that the Bank of Karaj used in the series was a pseudonym for Bank of Karad and their alleged involvemen­t in the scam was in public domain. Amit Desai, senior advocate for Nair, said the web series could not be covered under the definition of goods under the Trademarks Act and hence, no offence was made out under the law. HC granted ad-interim relief and stayed the probe for three weeks and posted the hearing on September 17.

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