'Wild Karnataka' documentary: HC frames charges against filmmakers, BBC for violating court's orders
Bengaluru (PTI): A division bench of the Karnataka High Court has framed charges against documentary filmmakers Amoghavarsha J S, Sarath Champati, broadcasters BBC, Discovery and Netflix among others in a civil contempt of court petition.
The High Court framed the charges on Thursday in a case where the filmmakers and broadcasters are accused of disobeying a 2021 interim order of the court regarding the release and telecast of the documentary film 'Wild Karnataka.'
The original complainants in the case are Ravindra N Redkar and Ullash Kumar R K.
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Mudskipper Labs and ITV Studios Global had approached Kalyan Varma and Amoghavarsha to film a documentary in 2014.
After signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the Karnataka Forest Department (KFD) to shoot a documentary, the accused allegedly used the services of the KFD like transport and shooting permissions without paying any charges.
The petitioners alleged that necessary permission for waiving the fees was not obtained.
The MoU vested the copyrights of the documentary and raw footage with the KFD but the filmmakers brought Icon Films of England and Wales on board without the former's knowledge.
The companies then entered into agreements with BBC, Discovery and Netflix to broadcast them though the KFD had specified the film would not be commercially used. The film was also released in theatres.
The original footage shot was 400 hours and the KFD had copyright over all the raw footage, the petitioners/ complainants claimed.
The HC on June 29, 2021 passed an interim order in the petition forbidding all the respondents from publishing or telecasting the film.
However, the film was released in theatres and telecast on broadcaster platforms. The complainants then filed the contempt petition before the HC.
The original petition is also still pending before the HC.
On January 17, the respondents submitted they are willing to pay compensation to the KFD.
The BBC offered Rs 3.5 lakh as compensation and Netflix, Rs 4.5 lakh.
Icon Films and Discovery also offered Rs 3.5 lakh each to the Tiger Conservation Foundation. The film makers and other accused also promised to pay compensation.
The High Court, however, agreed with the advocate of the petitioners that the 'apology appears to be sham in the light of the compensation offered by the accused,' and went ahead with the framing of charges.
The hearing has been adjourned to February 8.
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Over 17,000 people went missing in Delhi in 2024: NCRB
New Delhi (PTI): A total of 23,058 people, comprising 9,482 men and 13,576 women, were reported missing in Delhi in 2024, according to the latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).
Of the total, 5,491 were children below the age of 18 — 1,571 boys, 3,920 girls.
The city recorded 17,567 fresh adult missing persons cases in 2024, comprising 7,911 men and 9,656 women.
According to the NCRB data, released on Wednesday, 14,637 men, 18,238 women and six transgender persons were still missing from previous years.
At the latest count, in 2024, Delhi had a total of 55,939 missing persons cases — 24,119 men, 31,814 women and six transgender persons.
In 2024, police traced or collected 28,392 missing persons, including 12,182 men, 16,208 women and two transgender persons.
Only half of the men and half of the women who went missing could be traced.
A total of 27,547 missing persons – 11,937 men, 15,606 women, four transgender persons — were yet to be untraced by the end of the year, the data showed.
The data also revealed that 5,352 children from previous years remained untraced at the beginning of 2024.
The number of still missing boys was 1,621, and the number of missing girls was 3,729. Two transgender children were yet to be found.
After adding the pending cases from previous years, the total number of missing children cases handled in 2024 rose to 10,843.
The police traced or recovered 6,762 missing children — 2,030 boys, 4,732 girls.
The recovery rate stood at 63.6 per cent for boys and 61.9 per cent for girls, while no transgender child was traced.
By the end of 2024, a total of 4,081 children remained untraced, 1,162 of them boys, 2,917 girls, and two transgender children.
