Mumbai Police files cheating case against Kangana Ranaut over copyright violation allegations by Didda author

A case of alleged cheating was filed against actor Kangana Ranaut by Mumbai police on Friday on a local court’s orders after the author of Didda: The Warrior Queen of Kashmir accused her of copyright violation. The First Information Report (FIR) was registered at Khar police station against Kangana, Kamalkumar Jain, Rangoli Chandel and Akshat Ranaut, an official said. Ashish Kaul, the author of the book which has been translated into Hindi as Kashmir Ki Yodhha Rani Didda, alleged in a complaint before a magistrate that he has exclusive copyrights to the life story of Didda, the Princess of Lohar (Poonch) and the Queen of Kashmir. As per the complaint, he had sent an email about the storyline of his book to Ranaut, and she used some part of the story in a tweet while announcing her movie without Kaul’s permission. “Is it believable by any stretch of imagination that a story and a book are being usurped by a renowned actor- turned-social activist?” he said. On the Bandra metropolitan magistrate’s order, FIR was registered under IPC sections 405 (criminal breach of trust), 415 (cheating), 120 B (criminal conspiracy) and also under the Copyright Act, a police official said, adding that further probe is on. Manikarnika Returns: The Legend of Didda, Ranaut’s second film in the Manikarnika franchise, is based on Kaul’s book. The film tells the story of the Kashmiri queen Didda, the first female monarch of the Kashmir Valley. (With inputs from Press Trust of India)