Pritam mulls suing songwriter

Jun 3, 2011 IANS

Mumbai, June 2 (IANS) Composer Pritam Chakraborty Thursday said he may take legal action against songwriter Turkish Mohammed Azam who filed a case against him for allegedly plagiarising his lyrics for the song "Character dheela hai" of Salman Khan- starrer "Ready".

The Bombay High Court Wednesday dismissed Azam's petition, stating that Pritam was not a lyricist.

"I was very upset when I heard about it, but after seeing the legal notice, I realised that they were baseless and questionable. I may take a legal action against them because talking to media before the court gives its verdict is criminal offence, according to the law of the land," Pritam told IANS.

Azam, who claims that he had registered the song with the Writers Association in July 2007, filed a plagiarism case against Pritam in a city civil court, but lost the case May 23, 2011.

He then appealed in the Bombay High Court, but Justice A.R. Joshi dismissed his plea.

"Their appeal is dismissed, we won the case. Justice Joshi didn't find any merit in the case," Pritam's lawyer Henal Dhruva Vakharia told IANS.

"He had already filed one case in the city civil court where he lost. He moved the high court. The court ruled that it is not his original lyrics. Nonetheless, Pritam never writes lyrics," said Henal.

IANS tried to contact Azam, but he was not available.

Earlier, musician Anu Malik had alleged that Pritam lifted the tune of "Character dheela..." from his song "Mohabaat Naam Hai Kiska" of the 2001 film "Ajnabee".

"Ready" hits theatres June 3.