The Delhi High Court on Friday passed an interim order against music composer AR Rahman and production house Madras Talkies in a copyright infringement case involving the song Veera Raja Veera from the 2023 Tamil film Ponniyin Selvan 2 (PS2).

The case was filed by renowned Indian classical vocalist and Padma Shri awardee Faiyaz Wasifuddin Dagar, who alleged that the song's composition had been lifted from Shiva Stuti, a work originally composed by his father Nasir Faiyazuddin Dagar and uncle Zahiruddin Dagar.

Dagar sought a permanent injunction to restrain the use of the song by the defendants, along with damages and recognition of the original composers' moral rights.

In her ruling on Dagar’s interim plea, Justice Prathiba M Singh held that Veera Raja Veera was not just inspired by Shiva Stuti but was, in fact, “identical with certain changes.”

The Court directed Rahman and Madras Talkies to deposit ₹2 crore with the Court Registry during the pendency of the suit.

The Court also noted that no credit had initially been given to the Junior Dagar Brothers for the original composition. It directed the producers to include appropriate credits for them on all online platforms where the film is available. Additionally, the Court imposed litigation costs of ₹2 lakh on the defendants.

Dagar had submitted that although Veera Raja Veera uses different lyrics, its taal, beat, and musical structure mirror that of Shiva Stuti, a piece globally performed by the Junior Dagar Brothers and featured in PAN Records releases.

In defense, Rahman denied the allegations, arguing that Shiva Stuti is a traditional Dhrupad composition and falls within the public domain. He also claimed that Veera Raja Veera is an original piece, incorporating Western musical techniques and 227 individual layers, distinguishing it from classical Hindustani compositions.

Advocates Neel Mason and Arjun Harkauli represented Dagar.

Senior Advocate Amit Sibal, instructed by Bharucha & Partners (Kaushik Moitra – Partner, Vaishnavi Rao – Managing Associate, Karnika Vallabh – Counsel, Subhalaxmi Sen – Senior Associate), appeared for AR Rahman.

Madras Talkies and Lyca Productions were represented by Advocates Saikrishna Rajagopal and Sneha Jain.