Give Credits To Dagar Brothers In AR Rahman's Veera Raja Veera Song: Delhi High Court Issues Interim Injunction

In an interim order passed on Friday, the Delhi High Court has ruled in favour of Veteran Indian classical singer Ustad Faiyaz Wasifuddin Dagar in his suit alleging copyright infringement of his “Shiva Stuti” composition by music composer A.R. Rahman and other producers in Tamil film Ponniyan Selvan 2 song "Veera Raja Veera.”Justice Prathiba M Singh said that balance of convenience was in favour of Dagar and against Rahman and other defendants. The Court concluded that the song 'Veera Raja Veera' is not merely based on or inspired from the song composition of 'Shiva Stuti' but is infact identical to it with certain changes.Justice Singh has ordered that new slides be added in the Veera Raja Veera song giving credits to the original composers of the song- Dagar's father Nasir Faiyazuddin Dagar and uncle Ustad N Zahiruddin Dagar.The Court has directed the defendants to deposit Rs. 2 crores with the Registry and has also directed them to pay Rs. 2 lakh costs to Dagar.Detailed copy of the order is awaited.Dagar had sought to restrain Rahman and other producers from using the Shiva Stuti composition in the song, claiming that it is the original and one of the first works of his father and uncle which was sung as back as in the 1970s. Dagar had alleged that the Veera Raja Veera song is based on the Shiva Stuti composition and that though the lyrics are different, the song's taal and beat are identical to the said composition. He further claimed that he has been vested with all the rights in the compositions of his father and uncle by way of an arrangement entered into with all the legal heirs. It was also Dagar's case that the Shiva Stuti composition was composed for the first time in 1970s and was performed in international concerts, including the one held at the Royal Tropical Institute, Amsterdam in 1978. Counsel for Plaintiff: Mr. Neel Mason, Mr. Arjun Harkauli and Mr. Ujjawal BhargavaCounsel for Defendants: Mr. Amit Sibal, Senior Advocate, Mr. Kaushik Moitra, Ms. Vaishnavi Rao, Mr. Anurag Tandon, Ms. Arunima Nair, Ms. Subhalaxmi Sen, Ms. Shailza Agarwal, Mr. Abhishek Grover, Advs with Mr. Sai Shravanam for D-1; Mr. PS Raman, Sr. Adv., Mr. Sidharth Chopra, Ms. Sneha Jain, Mr. Vivek Ayyagari & Mr. Kuber Mahajan, Advs for D-2; Mr. Saikrishna Rajagopal, Mr. Sidharth Chopra, Ms. Sneha Jain, Mr. Vivek Ayyagari & Mr. Vivek Ayyagari, Advs. for D-2 & 3; Mr. Harsh Kaushik, Ms. Anushree Rauta, Mr. Shwetank Tripathi, Mr. Harsh Prakash, Mr. Deepank Singhal & Ms. Anchal Raghuwanshi, Advs. for D- 4Title: USTAD FAIYAZ WASIFUDDIN DAGAR V/s MR. A.R. RAHMAN & ORS.Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Del) 473

Give Credits To Dagar Brothers In AR Rahman's Veera Raja Veera Song: Delhi High Court Issues Interim Injunction

Nupur Thapliyal

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