Broadcaster Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd informed the Bombay High Court Friday that it would not air the television series ‘Baal Shiv – Mahadev ki Andekhi Gaatha’ till September 15 in the wake of a copyright infringement complaint brought against it by writer and mythologist Chotenlal Saini.
A single judge bench of Justice Gautam S Patel was hearing the interim plea filed by Saini against Zee Entertainment in connection with the television series which was slated to start airing from August 31. An injunction order had been obtained by Saini, who claimed to be the first to conceptualise the notion of ‘Baal Shiv’ as a television series.
“Zee Entertainment has agreed to delay the debut of their TV programme to September 15, without prejudice to its rights and contentions, on specified instructions. Please accept this statement as true. A new date has been set for the rescheduled event, and the defendant will be allowed to continue their promotional efforts. That decision will be based on the court’s decision on an interim application,” according to HC’s ruling.
While the series’ revised premiere date has not been officially announced, Zee Entertainment has been permitted to continue running ads and teasers of the series that explicitly reference it.
His concept was shared with defendant business executives, according to Saini, who subsequently used it to create a television series based on the narrated storyline. Zee Entertainment refused to produce the series after repeated requests, so he sought other networks and registered the title under the Trademarks Act.
Zee Entertainment reportedly “breached confidentially” when it announced the release of Saini’s series, and Saini filed a complaint with the Supreme Court of India.
Both Virag Tulzapurkar and Hiren Kamod, who represent the broadcaster, denied the allegations and opposed Saini’s interim appeal. Tulzapurkar submitted that Saini could not have concluded that his entire work has been plagiarised based on a 40-50 second teaser and added that the concept of ‘Baal Shiv’ was not novel as claimed but has previously been used in various films and TV shows, one of which the defendants had been a part of.
