The
Bombay High Court has refused to stay the release of the web series "The
Railway Men The Untold Story of Bhopal 1984", citing that the details of
the event were already available in the public domain.
A
vacation bench of Justice Arif Doctor on November 15 dismissed the petitions
filed by two erstwhile employees of Union Carbide India Limited, who claimed
that the series' depiction of the events leading to the tragedy and its cause
may cause prejudice to them.
One
of the petitioners was in charge of the MIC plant as production manager, and
the other was in charge of the pesticides factory of the UCIL.
The
petitioners Satya Prakash Choudhry and J Mukund were convicted in the case.
They later filed appeals against the conviction, which is pending.
The
high court, while refusing to stay the release of the series, noted that the
petitioners have failed to make out a very strong and compelling prima facie
case that the web series contains defamatory, slanderous or libellous material.
It
cannot be disputed that the Bhopal gas tragedy was a most terrible and
unfortunate event which made headlines and continued to remain in the news not
only nationally but internationally for several years, the court said.
The
gas leak and the events surrounding it have been discussed and examined over
the years, and they form the basis of several documentaries, movies, books and
so on, which are available in the public domain, it said.
Refusing
any relief by way of injunction, the bench held that the web series was neither
a documentary nor narration of facts but is simply stated to be inspired by
true events, which are all in the public domain.
It
further noted that the petitioners were seeking a stay on the release of the
series solely on the grounds that it could potentially cause grave injustice to
them.
It
said that the petitioners were found guilty way back in 2010 and the contents
of the trial and judgment are available in the public domain.
The
court said the makers of the series have included a disclaimer before each
episode stating that it was a work of fiction inspired by real events.