SC Sets Aside Compensation Plea for Absence of 'Jabra Fan' Song in SRK-Starrer Movie

Afreen Fatima Zaidi watched the movie "Fan" with her family after seeing promos featuring the song "Jabra Fan". Disappointed by its absence, she sought compensation. The production house Yash Raj Films said that the song's absence had been publicly disclosed before the release of the movie.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday allowed an appeal filed by Yash Raj Films challenging an order passed by the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC), directing the production house to compensate Rs 10,000 plus litigation costs to a consumer aggrieved by the absence of the song “Jabra Fan” in the Shahrukh Khan-starrer “Fan”.

A bench led by Justice P S Narasimha said the court answered the questions of whether a 'teaser', which is circulated prior to the release of a movie, would create a contractual obligation and whether it was an unfair trade practice not to show the contents of the promotional trailer in the movie. Detailed judgment on the matter will be uploaded later in the day. The apex court passed the verdict on a plea filed by Yash Raj Films.

Afreen Fatima Zaidi, the complainant in the matter, watched the movie “Fan” with her family after seeing promos featuring the song “Jabra Fan”. However, she was disappointed that it was missing in the film. She sought compensation and direction to air the promos with a disclaimer about the song’s exclusion.

The production house argued that Zaidi was not a consumer and that the song’s absence had been publicly disclosed before the movie’s release.

Zaidi’s plea was dismissed by the district consumer forum. However, the Maharashtra Consumer Commission in 2017 ruled in her favour. The commission directed YRF to reimburse the complainant for Rs 10,000 in compensation as well as ₹5,000 for litigation costs.