High court tells RGV to screen Sarkar-3 for writer

Mumbai: In a major setback to producer Ram Gopal Verma, the Bombay high court has asked him to hold private screening of the Sarkar-3 film for Nilesh Girkar, the script writer of the movie. Mr Girkar had claimed that even though he wrote the script of Sarkar-3, he was not properly credited by RGV.

After Mr Girkar filed a copyright violation petition in the Bombay high court in February, the court asked Mr Verma to deposit Rs 6.2 lakh in the court — the balance amount the filmmaker owed to Mr Girkar. On Friday, while hearing a notice of motion filed by Mr Girkar, the court asked Mr Verma to give a copy of the script of the film to the writer as well as hold a private screening of the film for him on March 20 in the presence of a law firm appointed by the court. Sarkar-3 is slated to release on April 7.

The single bench of Justice G.S. Patel was hearing the notice of motion in a copyright violation suit filed by Mr Girkar. In the copyright violation suit, the script writer had claimed that he was not properly credited in the movie and sought protection for his financial dues.

The Asian Age had reported on February 12, 2017, that Bombay high court had directed Mr Verma to deposit Rs 6.2 lakh in the court. Mr Girkar’s lawyer Rahul Ajatshatru told the court that his client feared loss in terms of financial and paternity rights. Mr Girkar said, “I had written the script and given it to Mr Verma in 2012 on the condition that he would compensate me with a fixed amount when shooting for the film starts.”