Kumar had objected to an "offensive" scene in the film that shows a person resembling him trying to enter a cinema hall where a film premiere is being held and is beaten up by a security guard.
Producer Shah Rukh Khan and director Farah Khan had earlier apologised to Kumar. However, Kumar moved court on learning the film was to be telecast world-wide on Sony channel on August 10 without deleting the "offensive" scene.
Allowing Kumar's application, city civil judge DR Mahajan on Friday also granted an injunction on the exhibition and circulation of DVDs and VCDs in the market unless the scene is deleted. With the order coming on a Friday, it left no time for defendants Shah Rukh, Farah Khan and Sony to file an appeal in the Bombay High Court, which remains closed on the weekend.
Kumar in his application had stated that he holds a good reputation "in the society at large" because of the "services he rendered in the interest of the nation". His lawyer Ashok Saroagi argued, "The scene was defamatory. It established that the character was indeed Manoj Kumar and portrayed him in poor light." Kumar also contended that exhibition of the film on television "carried more impression upon the viewer" than cinema.
Sony, which bought the film's television rights for Rs16 crore, vehemently opposed Kumar's plea. The channel's lawyer, Dinesh Gandhi, said in court, "Today the younger generation doesn't even know about Manoj Kumar and they are not even bothered about it. He should be obliged that they now know about him through a film meant for youngsters."
He argued that the film was being aired from Singapore, which does not fall within the jurisdiction of the court. Shah Rukh and Farah's lawyer told the court that the rights of the film are no longer with them. Besides, when they met Kumar, he had said that their apology was "more than enough". They contended that they would try to get Sony to delete the scene but they cannot force them to delete it.
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