Delhi High Court suspends 731 websites for illegal streaming of Bhuj: The Pride of India

The Delhi High Court has directed to block more than 700 websites, which were involved in illegal streaming of ‘Bhuj-The Pride of India,’ a movie based on the 1971 war between India and Pakistan. 

The Single-Judge Bench of Justice Pratibha M. Singh passed the order on Monday, after dismissing a suit filed by Star India for copyright infringement.

Star had moved the High Court in 2021, when the movie was about to be released.

The petitioner had contended that 42 websites were streaming the film illegally, which was based on real people and incidents, which took place during the 1971 war between India and Pakistan.

The High Court had passed an interim injunction order on August 9 last year against 42 rogue websites, restraining them from broadcasting the movie.

However, Star later apprised the High Court that there were 689 other websites, which were hosting the film. The movie, directed by Abhishek Dudhaiya and starring Ajay Devgn, Sanjay Dutt and Nora Fatehi in lead roles, was released on August 13, 2021 and is currently streaming on Over The Top (OTT) platforms.

As representatives of none of the 731 websites appeared before the court despite being served notice for the same, the High Court passed the permanent injunction order on Monday.

It directed the authorities to ensure that the domain names of all offending websites were suspended and locked and that the status quo was maintained. The same shall not be permitted to be transferred to any third party, added the Bench. 

Star was represented by Advocate Yatinder Garg, while Advocates Siddharth Varshney, Shweta Sahu, Nidhi Mittal, Aparna Arun, Damini Garg and Ojaswa Pathak appeared for the respondents.

(Case title: Star India Pvt Ltd & Another vs Moviesghar.art & Others)