New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Friday declined to grant any immediate relief to the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) in its petition seeking to restrain a private television channel from broadcasting Gurbani kirtan from the Golden Temple in Amritsar.
The matter was heard by Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani, where the SGPC argued that it holds the copyright over the Gurbani broadcast from Sri Harmandir Sahib. The committee said the broadcast is streamed live on its YouTube channel and another television channel.
The SGPC alleged that private channel Galactic Television was infringing its broadcasting rights by retransmitting the Gurbani broadcast with a delay of a few seconds.
Court refers to religious-use exception under Copyright Act
During the hearing, the court observed that Gurbani constitutes a literary and musical work, with verses from the Sri Guru Granth Sahib being rendered in musical form.
The court referred to Section 52(1)(za) of the Copyright Act, which provides an exception for the performance of literary, dramatic or musical works during religious ceremonies, subject to the statutory conditions.
The private channel’s senior counsel argued that there was no infringement of intellectual property or copyright in the present case, as the broadcast was not being used to generate revenue.
The High Court issued notice to the private channel and directed it to file its response to the SGPC’s petition.
The matter has been listed for further hearing on September 24.
