A day after jailed underworld don Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje alias Chhota Rajan filed a suit before the Bombay High Court against the makers of the Netflix series Scoop for allegedly defaming him and infringing on his rights, the court has fixed the hearing of the plea on June 7.
Justice Shivkumar Dige, who presides over a vacation bench, observed: “The series is already released…..now it is already published. We will hear on the next date. Let the reply be filed.”
Rajan has objected to his picture and voice being used in the OTT-series.
The Netflix series is based on the story of journalist Jigna Vora who was accused of murdering a fellow journalist Jyotirmoy Dey, popularly known as J Dey. The veteran journalist was killed near his residence in Powai on 11 July, 2011. The series is inspired by Vora’s biographical book Behind the Bars In Byculla: My Days in Prison. Vora had been acquitted by a special court set up under Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) which had been upheld by the Bombay High Court.
Dey had authored two books – Khallas: An A to Z Guide to the Underworld and Zero Dial: The Dangerous World of Informers – and was in the process of writing the third book – Chindi: Rags to Riches. In the third book that Dey was writing, he had portrayed Rajan as “chindi” (inconsequential or petty) and not as “don” and this has apparently angered Rajan and he ordered the hit.
After Chhota Rajan was brought to India, he was made an accused in the murder case by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
In the suit, Chhota Rajan had made filmmaker Hansal Mehta and owners of Matchbox Shots LLP, who have produced the web series - have made parties and sought damages of Re 1.