The Bombay high court has injuncted Sanjay Gupta, one of the four producers of a delayed film, from disposing of, transferring or creating any rights on a row house and two plots of land in Pune. Sanjay’s White Feather Films Ltd. has been involved in a legal tangle with Pritish Nandy Communications (PNC), Film Club India Ltd., and Kaante Productions Inc. All the four banners are joint producers of a film.
Gupta had lost an arbitrartion case in 2016 when Justice (retd.) K.K. Baam had directed White feather Films to pay Rs. 3.52 crore to PNC. On its part, PNC had sought more than Rs. 13 crore for losses incurred. Sanjay had challenged the arbitrator’s award in the high court. The high court in 2016 agreed to stay the arbitration award on condition that Sanjay would deposit Rs. 3 crore in court but Sanjay defaulted on that.
Earlier this month, Justice B.P. Colabawalla of the Bombay high court observed that though Sanjay Gupta’s petition challenging the award was admitted, there was no stay on the arbitrator’s award. The court further observed that “the claim as on today under the said award would be approximately to the tune of Rs. 5.84 crore”. The court also restrained Gupta from disposing of, encumbering, alienating, transferring, parting with possession of and/or creating any sort of third-party rights” on certain properties. The order was passed on a fresh application made by PNC, seeking disclosure and injunction of assets by Sanjay Gupta and his company, White Feather Films Ltd. The value of assets on which the injunction has been imposed is Rs. 12 crore, with a Rs. 8 lakh loan on the row house. The case will come up for hearing again on December 2.