Bengaluru Court Issues John Doe Injunction Restraining Derogatory Content On Pawan Kalyan Starrer 'Ustaad Bhagath Singh'

In a case filed by Mythri Movie Makers, the Bengaluru City Civil and Sessions Court has ordered a 'John Doe' temporary injunction on the circulation of derogatory content or news about the Pawan Kalyan starrer 'Ustad Bhagath Singh', which has been released in theatres today.

“….Issue exparte temporary injunction order against defendants etc. restraining them from telecasting, transmitting, publishing, distributing, sharing any material in any permanent, transient, audio format in any kind of media anything false, malicious, defamatory, derogatory, news concerning the film Ustaad Bhagat Singh; prior to its theatrical release. This temporary injunction Order shall remain in force only till the next date of hearing…”, the Principal City Civil and Sessions Court, Bengaluru, noted in its order.

In the order, the court also highlighted the applicability of 'John Doe' orders in property protection. The court opined that 'John Doe' Orders were not limited to the protection of intellectual property rights alone. It is pertinent to note here that the 9^th Defendant in the suit is shown as John Doe in the party array. The court relied on Meera Ajith v. John Doe @ Ashok Kumar (MFA 806/2022) pronounced by the Karnataka High Court, to cement the applicability of such orders to property protection alike.

Referring to the ratio in Meera John, the city court noted that the right to anonymous actions [in the context of 'Ustaad Bhagath Singh'- illegal interference] is not 'absolute' and can be overridden by the need to protect a person's property rights.

In Meera John, the Karnataka High Court held that a 'John Doe' injunction order can be utilised to protect property possession when there are threats against the same from unknown persons. In the suit before the trial court, a woman hailing from Kerala had filed an application for temporary injunction against a 'John Doe' first defendant to restrain him from interfering with her peaceful possession of the suit property.

“…On perusal of all the documents produced by the plaintiff, I found that there is a prima facie case in favour of the plaintiff; the balance of convenience lies in favour of plaintiff. If the T.I is not granted, the very purpose of filing this suit will be defeated, and it may amount to multiplicity of proceedings”, the court accordingly noted in the order.

The movie has been directed by Harish Shankar and produced by Mythri Movie Makers.

The other defendants in the suit for permanent injunction include YouTube LLC, Big Tree Entertainment Pvt Ltd, X Corp., Google India Private Limited, IMDb.com Inc.,Meta Platforms Inc etc. These platforms have also been restrained from telecasting, transmitting, publishing, or distributing any false, malicious, defamatory, or derogatory content about the movie.

The matter has now been listed on April 27, 2026 for further hearing.

For Mythri Movie Makers, Advocates Navod Prasannan, Rahul Mehta, Arpit Choudhury, Atul Menon and Krunal Mehta appeared.

Case Title: Mythri Movie Makers v. X Corp & Ors.

Case No: O.S./1875/2026

Click Here To Read/Download Order