On Friday, the Telangana High Court fined Hyderabad-based director Nandi Chinni Kumar Rs 10 lakh for filing a plea seeking a halt on the release of the Amitabh Bachchan-starrer "Jhund." Kumar was given a month to pay the money to the PM's Covid-19 Relief Fund, according to the court. If the petitioner fails to pay the sum due, the District Collector would reclaim it under the Revenue Recovery Act and send it to the PM Fund within 30 days.

After declining to halt the film's distribution, the bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Abhinand Kumar Shavili questioned the petitioner's attorney about why he withheld facts from a lawsuit he had filed in a lower court on the same matter.

A settlement deal had already been signed between the movie's producers and Kumar, according to the court. Kumar received Rs 5 crore as part of the deal. On Friday, "Jhund," a biographical sports film based on the life of Vijay Barse, the founder of the NGO "Slum Soccer," hit theatres. Meanwhile, Kumar's lawyer, Ritesh Tomar, told IANS that the high court ruling will be challenged in the Supreme Court.

Kumar said he went to the trial court last week to have the decision issued last year overturned and the film's distribution postponed, alleging a violation of the settlement agreement by the film's makers. The court had deferred its decision on his plea, but because the film was about to be released, the petitioner went to the high court to request a delay.

"All the charges should have been dismissed under the settlement agreement," Kumar told IANS. "However, a case filed by Akhilesh Paul in Nagpur court was not removed." Paul has contested a 2017 deal with Kumar that gave him exclusive rights to develop a film based on his life called "Slum Soccer." Paul's coach is Barse, whose life is based on "Jhund."

Kumar had approached a city court in 2020 alleging copyright violation by makers of “Jhund”. He had submitted that though director Nagraj Manjule and producers bought rights to make a movie on the life of Barse, “Jhund” also showcases Paul’s story in a major role, thus allegedly violating the copyright.

He claimed he won the case in trial court, high court and also in the Supreme Court. Though this finally led to settlement agreement, he said the movie makers failed to ensure withdrawal of all cases, thus mentally torturing him.

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