The Bombay High Court on Wednesday stayed the defamation proceedings initiated by a local court against actor Alia Bhat and filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali in a criminal defamation complaint filed in connection with the movie ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’.
A metropolitan magistrate in March this year issued summons against Bhat, Bhansali, and his production company Bhansali Productions Private Limited on a defamation complaint filed by one Babuji Shah, who claimed to be the adopted son of Gangubai Kathiawadi, on whom the film is based.
While admitting the petition under section 482 of the CrPC filed by Alia, Bhansali, and others, Justice SK Shinde on Wednesday observed that prima facie the complaint did not disclose ingredients of defamation under section 499(1) of the IPC, according to LiveLaw.in.
The film features Alia Bhatt as Gangubai, one of the most powerful, loved, and respected madams from Kamathipura, Mumbai’s red-light area, during the 1960s. Shah had claimed the movie was inspired by ‘The Mafia Queens of Mumbai’ novel.
According to Shah, some portions of the novel were defamatory, tarnished Gangubai Kathiawadi’s reputation, and infringed upon her right to privacy. Shah had moved the HC, seeking a stay on the release of the movie, and an order restraining the writers/publishers of the novel from creating any third-party rights or writing any other story on the life of Gangubai Kathiawadi.
The movie was earlier scheduled to release in July this year but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
