Granting interim relief to the Bollywood actor Salman Khan, the Bombay Civil Court has ordered temporary restraint on access to the “Selmon Bhoi” video game, allegedly based on the 2002 hit-and-run case where the actor was accused. The court noted that video game has been given “impressionistic resemblance” to Salman Khan.
“When the plaintiff has not given any consent for installing, preparing and running such game which is very similar to his identity and the case which was against him, certainly his right to privacy is being deprived and is also tarnishing his image,” Justice KM Jaiswal noted.
The court has restrained Parody Studios Pvt. Ltd from disseminating, launching, re-launching, and recreating the game or any other content relating to the actor. The defendants have also been directed to immediately take down/ block/ disable access to the game from Google Play Store and all other platforms.
The court has granted time to the defendant to file a reply and has posted the matter to September 20, 2021.
Case Background
Salman Khan moved the Bombay Civil Court against Parody Studios Pvt Ltd and its Directors, Google LLC and Google India Pvt Ltd submitting that the game “Selmon Bhoi” is phonetically the same as the actor’s popular name amongst the fans.
He further alleged that the images used in the game appear to be the caricature version of Salman and was aimed at recreating the alleged events of Hit and Run Case and Blackbuck Case connected to the actor despite the fact that the matters are sub-judice before courts.
Alleging it to be an injurious falsehood, Salman sought relief to enforce his right to privacy and right to reputation guaranteed under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution.
‘It is clear that right to privacy is implicit in the right to life and property guaranteed to the citizens of this country by Article 21 of the Indian Constitution,” the court noted.
“Till the defendants file the reply and as the prima facie case is made out by the plaintiff, the balance of convenience also lies in his favour and if no ad- interim reliefs are granted the plaintiff will suffer irreparable loss which can not compensated in terms of money,” ordered the court.
Both the cases registered against Salman Khan courted controversies following the continuous shielding of the actor from punishment. In both of them, Salman got sentenced many a times but later got bail or his sentence was suspended. Mysterious kidnapping and death of the only witness, constable Ravindra Patil has left several questions. Salman’s driver Ashok Singh taking blame of being on the driver seat in hit and run case after 13 years brought drastic twist in the case. The appeals are still pending in the courts in connection to both the cases.
