Specifically, Justice Arif Doctor gave Kumar this limited protection after Dhar sued for defamation. The case is scheduled for further discussion on April 16th.
Court order and interim relief
The judge felt Dhar had a good initial argument for protecting his reputation. Kumar is forbidden from repeating the exact words and statements from the lawsuit, or making similar accusations, until the next hearing.
The court says Kumar was officially informed about the hearing, but nobody showed up to represent him. This initial injunction is limited and focused on stopping Kumar from repeating the things he’s supposedly said that damage Dhar’s reputation, while the case goes on.
Timeline and background of the dispute
This problem began after ‘Dhurandhar: The Revenge’ (most people know it as ‘Dhurandhar t2’) came out. Santosh Kumar publicly claimed the filmmakers had copied a script he had registered, called “D Saheb”, which he wrote in 2023 and officially filed with the Screenwriters Association of India.
Aditya Dhar responded with a formal legal letter denying he plagiarized anything and asking Kumar to stop making the accusations. Kumar didn’t reply to the letter, so Dhar, through his lawyers, filed a defamation lawsuit asking for an injunction (a court order to stop doing something) and money for the harm done to his reputation.
Legal arguments presented in court
Dhar’s lawyer said Kumar has repeatedly made these accusations and they are being spread around causing serious and lasting harm to the director’s name. The lawyer asked the court to give Dhar some immediate protection from further spreading of these statements while the main argument about whether or not copying happened is settled.
The court did agree that Dhar has a reasonable initial case for a limited, very early, form of protection. This order doesn’t decide if Dhar did plagiarize, it only stops Kumar from saying the things he’s been saying publicly until the court hears more.
Santosh Kumar’s position and public allegations
Kumar continues to say that his registered script and the released movie are very alike. He had a press conference after ‘Dhurandhar 2’ came out to explain his worries and said he would take legal action for the alleged copyright violation.
Kumar says he officially registered his script to prove his point. He has stated he planned to start legal action, but the court documents show he did not respond to Dhar’s original legal letter, which then led Dhar to go to court.
Implications for reputation management and copyright claims
This temporary court order shows how courts try to balance the right to say what you think with protecting people’s reputations. For people in the public eye and in creative jobs, being repeatedly accused of plagiarism can hurt their ability to make money and how people see them, so they often quickly go to court.
This defamation lawsuit is separate from a formal copyright or infringement case. If Kumar does want to claim the script was copied, that would be a different legal path, and would focus on proving that the two scripts are substantially similar and Dhar had access to Kumar’s work, rather than only on Kumar’s public statements.
What to expect next in the case
The court has set the next hearing for April 16th. At that point, both sides will be able to present more detailed proof and arguments on both the defamation claim and any claims Kumar has about who actually wrote the script.
Until then, Kumar isn’t allowed to repeat the specific accusations he made in the lawsuit or make similar ones publicly. The upcoming hearings will decide if the injunction stays in place and whether the court will award Dhar money or other forms of compensation.
For now, this legal battle shows how creative rights and reputation connect in the film world. As ‘Dhurandhar 2’ continues to do well in theaters, the court case will move forward with a lot of public and business interest in the outcome.
