KGF copyright case: HC gives interim relief to Rahul Gandhi, others

Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Jairam Ramesh and Supriya Shrinate were given interim relief by the Karnataka High Court on Friday in the music copyright infringement case.

The Congress leaders had filed a petition before the Karnataka High Court requesting it to quash the FIR filed against them at Bengaluru’s Yeshwanthpur police station by people representing the MRT Music label.

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The Congress social media team had used two songs from the movie KGF Chapter 2, owned by the MRT Music label, to make a video of Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra. The music company had filed a case against Rahul Gandhi and other Congress leaders for copyright infringement. They also filed a complaint at the Yeshwanthpur police station and a FIR was lodged against them.

‘No cognizable offence’

Senior advocate A S Ponnanna appeared on behalf of the Congress leaders and informed the court that the videos were taken down from the Congress party’s social media handles as per the undertaking they had given to the court earlier in November.

The counsel argued that no cognizable offence has been made in the complaint which is necessary to file an FIR.

Ponnanna also argued that Rahul Gandhi cannot be made an accused because he merely appears in the video. He was not in the same business as the music label and will not gain anything monetarily out of the video, the counsel for the Congress leader said. He even raised the issue of territorial jurisdictional as the FIR was lodged at Yeshwanthpur police station in Bengaluru whereas the Yatra never entered the city.

MRT counsel’s argument

Senior advocate Shyamsundar MS, who appeared on the behalf of MRT Music, submitted that there was no urgency to hear the petition and that it could be heard after the winter vacations. He though claimed that the said videos had not been taken down from the party’s social media handles.

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The senior counsel also submitted that it was a well settled principle of law that offences under Section 63 of the Copyright Act are a cognizable offence.

After hearing both sides Justice S Sunil Dutt Yadav stayed the investigation in the FIR till the next date of hearing.