One day prior to the scheduled release of the film ‘The White Tiger’ on Netflix, the Delhi High Court heard an urgent petition filed by Hollywood producer John Hart Jr seeking a stay on its streaming on grounds of alleged copyright violation.

A single bench of Justice C Harishankar, after an urgent virtual hearing, held that no prima facie material was shown to justify a last-minute grant of an injunction against the OTT streaming of the film.

The White Tiger stars Priyanka Chopra & Rajkumar Rao, and is based on Arvind Adiga’s Booker prize winning novel of the same name.

However, the defendants have been directed to keep detailed accounts of earnings from the film, so that at a later stage, if the Plaintiff were to succeed, due compensation could be determined for them.

Justice C Harishankar held that substantial financial interests of various stakeholders were at stake. It was also observed that prima facie John Hart Jr had failed to make out a case fit for the grant of an ad-interim relief despite admitting that the cause of action had arisen as far back as 1.5 years ago; and that the Plaintiff had for unjustified reasons waited till 24 hours before the release of the film to move the court for an alleged copyright infringement suit.