The Delhi High Court on Monday came down heavily on the makers of Kala Hiran: The Battle for Legacy and said it would pass an order directing the teaser’s removal from social media within 24 hours. The court
was hearing Salman Khan’s plea seeking protection of his personality rights after alleging that the film is based on the 1998 blackbuck poaching case and portrays him in a defamatory manner.
Justice Jyoti Singh said that if the producer failed to remove the teaser, platforms including X and YouTube would be directed to take down the content.
Delhi High Court Criticises Producer’s Conduct
As per Bar and Bench, during the hearing, the court strongly criticised the conduct of the film’s producer, Amit Jani, observing that the teaser and related content continued to harm Salman Khan’s reputation. “What kind of contents are these. You seem to get emboldened by the fact that no order was passed last time. Your client thinks he is above the law. He is getting worse day by day … Every minute it is on public domain it is harming the reputation of the plaintiff (Khan) here. I was mild with you but your are incorrigible … You can’t do this even to a common man. It cannot get worse than this even for a common man.”
After watching the teaser in court, Justice Singh also observed that portraying events that are still pending before courts could amount to contempt. “Reputation is built with great effort; once it’s lost, it’s lost. Even if this is played for 24 hours, someone suffers.”
Read More: Why Is Salman Khan Opposing ‘Kala Hiran’ Release? What Is The Controversial Film About?
Why Salman Khan Moved Court
Salman Khan has sought protection of his personality rights, alleging that Kala Hiran: The Battle for Legacy is based on the 1998 blackbuck poaching case, proceedings of which are still pending before the Rajasthan High Court and the Supreme Court.
According to the actor, the film falsely portrays him as having links with the underworld. He also alleged that the poster features a character who closely resembles him and wears a bracelet associated with the actor. Salman Khan argued that the film violates his right to a fair trial because the criminal proceedings are still sub judice.
His petition also referred to media reports and statements allegedly made by producer Amit Jani, claiming they leave little doubt that the film is based on the blackbuck case.
The actor alleged that after he sent a legal notice to the filmmakers, the producer tore it up during an interview and later posted on X alleging that he was being threatened by Salman Khan and the underworld.
Producer Denies Infringing Salman Khan’s Rights
Representing the producer, counsel argued that neither the teaser nor the film names Salman Khan or uses artificial intelligence or deepfake technology. “This is only a teaser, how is his personality getting infringed by this?” the counsel submitted.
However, Salman Khan’s legal team argued that the film unmistakably referred to the actor.
“Do I not have a right to have a fair trial? Whole community is being pitted against me,” Khan’s counsel argued, adding that the actor had already been acquitted in three of the four criminal cases while the sentence in the remaining case had been suspended.
Court Directs Preparation of List of Links
The court also heard submissions from Meta and Google, whose lawyers argued that internet intermediaries could not be subjected to pre-publication injunctions.
Justice Singh, however, observed that online platforms also bear responsibility. “As platform owners, I will have to fix some responsibility on you somewhere.”
The court directed Salman Khan’s counsel to prepare a list of all allegedly infringing links so that further takedown orders could be passed.
