ISKCON fined Rs 50,000 for staging Ram Leela of Sriram cent

New Delhi, Mar 19 (UNI) The Delhi High Court today imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on the International Society for Krishna Consciousness(ISKCON) for staging 'Ram Leela' play based on the script of the Sriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra in the capital.

Justice A K Sikri held the international religious body guilty of violation of the Copyright Act and asked it to pay Rs 50,000 as compensation within four weeks.

Both ISKCON and Kala Kendra had prayed for a out-of-court settlement and withdrawal of the case from the court after fighting a legal duel before the bench for a year.

The Court directed the Kala Kendra to donate the amount in two weeks to the Delhi Government, as prayed by both the parties, for the expenditure in mid-day meal in schools for children.

In April 2006, the Kala Kendra had filed a petition before the High Court seeking compensation of Rs two lakh from ISKCON for staging the play on the same script on its temple premises in the capital during a festival.

Even ISKCON had hired some of the artistes, who had been sacked by the Kala Kendra to stage the play based on the life of celestial characters of Lord Rama, Lakshman, Sita, Ravana etc, said the petition.

The script of the play was specially written for the shows at the Kala Kendra and was unique artistic creation. The script could not be used by any other group or organisation to stage such a play, the petition had said.

UNI