Hearing on Gurbani broadcast in Delhi High Court
Delhi High Court's decision: An important hearing was held in the Delhi High Court on Friday regarding the telecast of Gurbani from the Golden Temple. The court refused to grant an interim stay on the plea of ​​Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) seeking to ban a private channel from telecasting live Gurbani from the Golden Temple. The Court clarified that if Gurbani is being broadcast for a religious function and without any commercial purpose, then it cannot be considered as copyright infringement. However, the High Court has not yet given the final decision and the next hearing of the case will be on September 24.
Details of SGPC's petition
The case pertains to a copyright infringement petition filed by SGPC. The SGPC had sought to ban private channel Galactic Television and Communications (GTC) from broadcasting Gurbani from the Golden Temple. SGPC says that it has the rights to broadcast Gurbani. The committee argued in court that GTC was infringing on its broadcast reproduction rights by rebroadcasting its official broadcast.
GTC's arguments
On the other hand, GTC told the court that its broadcast is not for commercial gain. Senior advocate PS Patwalia, appearing for the channel, argued that no fee is being charged from the viewers to watch Gurbani. The channel also argued that Gurbani broadcasts during religious ceremonies may be protected under copyright law under certain circumstances.
Court's comment
The bench of Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani, while giving preliminary opinion, said that Gurbani present in Guru Granth Sahib can be seen as a literary and musical work. If it is presented for a religious purpose during a religious ceremony and is not being used commercially, it cannot be a copyright infringement. The court did not issue any interim order in favor of SGPC on this basis.
How is Gurbani broadcast?
Currently, SGPC broadcasts live Gurbani from Sri Harmandir Sahib through its official YouTube channel. Apart from this, it is also shown on television through PTC. The dispute between SGPC and private broadcasting institutions over the broadcasting rights of Gurbani has been going on for the last few years.
Dispute between GTC and SGPC
In recent times, GTC had re-telecasted the Gurbani feed broadcast by SGPC. SGPC objected, calling it an unauthorized broadcast and warned of legal action. SGPC says that no private channel or digital platform can re-stream the broadcast of Gurbani without its permission.