A Bengaluru Civil Court on April 19 granted a temporary injunction holding back author Chetan Bhagat from selling his book, 'One Indian Girl' following a city-based writer's suit claiming that the work was a copy of one of her short stories, 'Drawing Parallels' from her book, 'Life, Odds & Ends'.
Anvita Bajpai, a fellow IIM graduate and a writer as Bhagat, had filed an original suit seeking a permanent injunction restraining Bhagat and his publisher from selling his recent book and also claimed damages of INR 1 lakh (USD 1550 approx.). After hearing the advocate for Bajpai, the court passed a temporary injunction order on April 19 until the next hearing.
Anvita had earlier sent a legal notice to Chetan Bhagat on February 22, asking him to withdraw the book and pay a sum of INR 5 lakh (USD 7750 approx.) towards damages. The following day, Bhagat replied to her denying all allegations and stating that 'One Indian Girl' was a totally different story and not based on Anvita's short story.
Bhagat denied all the allegations levelled by Anvita Bajpai and stated that he has never met her or read any of her work. The writer added on his official twitter page, "I write universal stories about everyday issues. This could be a misunderstanding and am sure will be clarified as what is being suggested is baseless. My publisher's legal team will be taking appropriate steps."
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
