In a significant development, the Karnataka High Court has reserved its verdict on a petition filed by Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Jairam Ramesh, and Supriya Shrinate seeking the quashing of a criminal case registered against them in a copyright infringement dispute related to the movie KGF Chapter 2. The case involves allegations of unauthorized use of music from the movie during the Bharat Jodo Yatra campaign.

Justice M Nagaprasanna presided over the hearing and stated that the interim protection granted to Gandhi and others in December will remain in effect until the case is concluded. Senior Advocate Vikram Huilgol, representing the Congress leaders, argued that the accused must have knowingly infringed a copyright for an offense to be established under Section 63 of the Copyright Act. They further contended that there was no intent to infringe the copyright and no monetization of the copyrighted content had taken place.

On the other side, Senior Advocate S Sriranga, representing the complainant MRT Music, contended that even if there was no monetary gain, the petitioners still benefited from the entire exercise by gaining popularity. The complainant alleged that the accused had fraudulently used the sound recordings for the purpose of gaining wrongful advantages through the Bharat Jodo Yatra video circulated on social media platforms.

Previously, MRT Music had filed a copyright infringement suit and a criminal complaint, leading to the registration of a first information report (FIR). In response to the copyright suit, an Additional City Civil & Sessions Judge in Bengaluru had ordered an electronic audit of the Congress party website and the removal of infringing materials from their social media accounts. However, the Congress party challenged this order in the High Court, which subsequently set it aside but directed the removal of the offending content from the party's social media accounts on various platforms.

The Karnataka High Court's reserved verdict in Rahul Gandhi's plea to quash the FIR in the KGF copyright infringement case highlights an important legal battle involving prominent political figures and copyright issues in the nation.

"Jairam Ramesh vs. State of Karnataka: Landmark Case of Copyright Infringement in KGF Saga"