Movie on Sushant Singh Rajput: Delhi HC Issues Notice on Plea Challenging OTT Streaming

The Delhi High Court recently issued a notice to the producers of the film ‘Nyay: The Justice’, which is centered on the life of the late actor Sushant Singh Rajput.

The court issued notice on a plea filed by Krishna Kishore Singh, the late actor’s father to stop the movie’s streaming on Over The Top (OTT) platforms.

The plea also challenged an order dated July 12, 2023, issued by a single-judge of the High Court that declined to stay the streaming of the film.

A division bench comprising Justice Yashwant Varma and Justice Dharmesh Sharma has summoned responses from the film’s producers and has scheduled the case for further examination on November 16.

Initially released in June 2021, the movie is currently available for streaming on the OTT platform known as Lapalap Original.

Previously, Singh had approached the High Court to challenge the film’s streaming, but his appeal was dismissed by a single-judge.

In a comprehensive verdict rendered on July 12, Justice C Hari Shankar articulated that Rajput’s rights associated with his personality, as well as his rights to privacy and publicity, ceased to exist upon his demise. Justice Shankar ruled that these rights are non-transferable and cannot be inherited by his father.

The single-judge also noted that even if it is assumed that the film infringes upon Rajput’s publicity rights or defames him, the infringed right is inherently personal to the actor and cannot be deemed to have been inherited by his father.

As a result, the single-judge concluded that it lacks the authority to issue an injunction to halt the movie’s streaming, particularly given that the film has already been released and likely viewed by a substantial number of individuals.