The Delhi High Court has stayed an earlier injunction against AR Rahman in a copyright case over the PS2 song ‘Veera Raja Veera,’ allowing the matter to be heard on May 23.
NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday temporarily stayed an earlier order that had been passed against famous music composer AR Rahman in a copyright case related to the popular Tamil song ‘Veera Raja Veera’ from the 2023 movie Ponniyin Selvan 2 (PS2).
The case was filed by Padma Shri awardee and Indian classical singer Faiyaz Wasifuddin Dagar, who accused Rahman of copying the tune from ‘Shiva Stuti’, a song originally composed and performed by his father Nasir Faiyazuddin Dagar and uncle Zahiruddin Dagar, who are popularly known as the Junior Dagar Brothers.
Earlier, on April 25, a single-judge Bench of the High Court ruled in favour of Dagar and granted an interim injunction. This order had directed Rahman and the producers of the movie to give proper credit to the Dagar Brothers on all online platforms where the song is available. Additionally, the Court had imposed Rs. 2 lakh as costs and asked the team to deposit Rs.2 crore as part of the legal proceedings.
The Court looked into Dagar’s request for immediate relief.
Justice Prathiba M. Singh, who gave the decision, clearly said:
“Veera Raja Veera is not merely based on or inspired from the song composition of ‘Shiva Stuti’ but is infact identical to it with certain changes.”
Because of this, the Court ordered AR Rahman and Madras Talkies to deposit Rs 2 crore with the court registry while the case is still going on. The court also noticed that at the beginning, Rahman and Madras Talkies did not give any credit to the original Dagar brothers for the music composition. Therefore, the Court directed the movie producers to now add proper credits for them in the movie wherever it is shown online.
Rahman challenged this order before a Division Bench of Justices C Hari Shankar and Ajay Digpaul, which has now stayed the injunction and costs until the next hearing on May 23.
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The Court said in its order:
“As the subject matter of the copyright in which the injunction has been granted has been in public domain since 2023, without prejudice to the rights and contentions of both sides and without intending the order to be any expression on cases of the parties before us, we stay the operation of the injunction granted by Ld. Single Judge till the next date of hearing.”
The Bench also paused the payment of Rs. 2 lakh in costs, but kept the direction to deposit ₹2 crore as mentioned in the earlier order. However, the judges made it clear that this should not be taken as a judgment on who is right or wrong in the case. They added:
“The direction for deposit was not an expression on the merits of the appeal.”
Faiyaz Wasifuddin Dagar said that while the lyrics of Veera Raja Veera were different, the musical structure, beat (taal), and rhythm were the same as Shiva Stuti, which has been performed worldwide by the Dagar Brothers and also published in albums released by PAN Records.
AR Rahman strongly denied the accusations and argued that Shiva Stuti is a traditional Dhrupad composition and belongs to the public domain. According to him, Veera Raja Veera is an original creation, developed with Western music techniques, using 227 unique layers, making it much more complex than any traditional Hindustani music piece.
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Justice Prathiba M Singh, who passed the initial injunction order, had observed that the song Veera Raja Veera was not just inspired by, but actually identical to Shiva Stuti in its musical core.
The Court had said:
“In this case, the core of the impugned song Veera Raja Veera is not just inspired but is in fact identical in Swaras (notes), Bhava (Emotion) and Aural impact (impact on the ear) of the suit composition Shiva Stuti, from the point of view of a lay listener. Hence the Defendant’s composition infringes the Plaintiff’s rights in Shiva Stuti.”
The Division Bench has scheduled the case for final arguments and disposal on May 23, 2025. Until then, the interim injunction and costs imposed on Rahman have been put on hold, but the deposit of Rs.2 crore must still be made as directed earlier.
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