Supreme Court stays Kerala HC condition on screening 'Kantara'
New Delhi, Feb 10: The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the Kerala High Court's condition directing the producer and director of the Kannada superhit movie "Kantara" to not exhibit the film with the song "Varaharoopam" till a final order in the copyright infringement case.
A bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwala also issued notice to the Kerala government and sought its reply in two weeks.
The bench modified one of the conditions of the high court and directed that producer Vijay Kirgandur and director Rishab Shetty be released on bail immediately if arrested.
The top court took note of the submissions of senior advocate Ranjit Kumar, appearing for Kirgandur and Shetty, challenging some conditions in the high court order and passed an interim order.
On February 8, the high court granted anticipatory bail to the director and producer in a case registered in a Kozhikode police station alleging plagiarism in the song. The allegation was that "Varaharoopam" was an unauthorised copy of the song "Navarasam" shown on the Malayalam music channel Kappa TV.
The high court laid out five conditions and asked Kirgandur and Shetty to surrender before the investigating officer for two days on February 12 and 13 between 10 am and 1 pm for interrogation.
"The Investigating Officer can interrogate them and on completion of interrogation within the above time specified, if they will be arrested, they shall be produced before the jurisdictional court. On such production, the jurisdictional court shall release the petitioners on bail on their executing bonds for Rs.50,000 each with two solvent sureties each for the like amount to the satisfaction of the jurisdictional court concerned", the high court had said.
It said the accused shall not intimidate the witnesses or tamper with evidence and they shall cooperate with the investigation and shall be available for trial. It also said that that the accused/petitioners should not leave India without prior permission of the jurisdictional court.
Condition number five, which is stayed by the top court, said, "The specific condition further is that the petitioners shall not exhibit the film `KANTARA' along with the music `VARAHAROOPAM' in the film till an interim order or final order after addressing infringement of copyright in this matter will be passed by a competent civil court..."
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UDF leaders see local body poll trends as pointer to 2026 Assembly elections in Kerala
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): Buoyed by the strong performance of the Congress-led UDF in the local body polls, KPCC president Sunny Joseph said on Saturday that the front's results indicated the people had rejected the LDF government.
According to early trends, the UDF was leading in more grama panchayats, block panchayats, municipalities and corporations than the LDF.
The local body polls were held in two phases in the state earlier this week.
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Speaking to reporters here, Joseph said the people of Kerala had extended their support to the UDF.
"We could expose the LDF government’s anti-people stance and the people understood it. The LDF’s fake propaganda was rejected by the people. The UDF is moving towards a historic victory," he said.
He said a united effort, proper preparations, good candidate selection and hard work had resulted in the Congress and the UDF’s victory in the elections.
Asked about the prospects in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, Joseph said the party was studying the matter and would comment later.
LDF convenor T P Ramakrishnan said the results would be closely examined.
According to him, the government had done everything possible for the people.
"Why such a verdict happened will be examined at the micro level. People’s opinion will be considered and further steps will be taken," he said.
He added that decisions would be taken after analysing the results. "If any corrective measures are required, we will initiate them and move forward," he said.
AICC leader K C Venugopal said the results showed that people had begun ousting those who, he alleged, were responsible for the loss of gold at Lord Ayyappa’s temple.
"This trend will continue in the Assembly elections as well. It is an indication that the people are ready to bring down the LDF government," he said.
Venugopal said the UDF had registered victories even in CPI(M) and LDF strongholds.
"I congratulate all UDF workers for their hard work. Congress workers and leaders worked unitedly," he said.
Referring to remarks made by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan against the Congress on polling day, Venugopal said the voters had responded through the verdict.
"I do not know whether the chief minister understands that the people are against him. Otherwise, he does not know the sentiment of the people. The state government cannot move an inch further," he said.
He said the results indicated a strong comeback for the UDF in Kerala.
Asked whether the Sabarimala gold loss issue had affected the LDF in the local polls, Venugopal said the CM and the CPI(M) state secretary did not take the issue seriously.
"We took a strong stand on the matter. The BJP played a foul game in it," he alleged.
On the BJP's role in the local body elections, Venugopal alleged that the party operated with the CPI(M) 's tacit support.
"The CPI(M) supported the central government on issues such as PM-SHRI, labour codes and corruption in national highway construction. The CPI(M) is facing ideological decline, and the state government’s policies are against the party’s own decisions," he said.
Meanwhile, LDF ally Kerala Congress (M) leader Jose K Mani said the party could not win all the wards it had expected in the elections.
He congratulated winners from all parties and said the party would closely examine the losses and identify shortcomings. "Later, we will take corrective measures," he added.
Senior Congress leader and MP Rajmohan Unnithan said the trends in the local body elections indicated that the UDF would return to power in the 2026 Assembly elections.
"We will win 111 seats as in 1977 and return to power in 2026. The anti-government sentiment of the people is reflected in the elections," he said.
Unnithan said the people were disturbed and unhappy with the present government.
"The trend indicates the end of the LDF government," he added.
CPI(M) MLA M M Mani said the people had shown ingratitude towards the LDF despite benefiting from welfare schemes.
"After receiving all welfare schemes and living comfortably, people voted against us due to some temporary sentiments. Is that not ingratitude," he asked.
Mani said no such welfare initiatives had taken place in Kerala earlier.
"People are receiving pensions and have enough to eat. Even after getting all this, they voted against us. This is what can be called ingratitude," he said.
Muslim League state president Panakkad Sayyid Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal said the results were beyond expectations.
"The outcome points towards the Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram, indicating that a change of government is imminent. We are going to win the Assembly election," he said.
