After an extensive five-year investigation, the Economic Offence Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai police has announced the closure of a cheating case filed against Yash Raj Films. The case, which centered on accusations of the production company withholding royalties totaling over Rs 100 crore belonging to lyricists, singers, and musicians who contributed to their films since 2012, has been officially concluded.
The Mumbai police have categorized the case as a 'C' summary, indicating that it falls into a realm where neither truth nor falsehood can be definitively established. This classification typically occurs when a criminal case stems from a factual misunderstanding or when the alleged offense leans towards a civil matter. The closure report, submitted by the Economic Offence Wing's general cheating cell to the relevant court last week, affirms that there is no evidence of misappropriation of funds by the accused company.
According to a report of TOI, The complainant had alleged that YSF had taken the licence fees from the user company/ exploiters company for songs in the agreement letter or received royalty in another way and they have used it for personal use which is not true. Also, during the course of investigation, it is seen that the amount of royalties paid by the accused company from time to time to songwriters and musicians who are members of the plaintiff have been received/accepted by the plaintiff company.
The report elaborated that the crux of the matter stemmed from the ambiguity within the copyright agreement regarding the computation of song royalties. This ambiguity, coupled with the absence of uniformity in copyright laws or provisions in India, has precipitated legal disputes currently pending in various courts. Consequently, the report concluded that no discernible crime akin to embezzlement had been perpetrated in the case under scrutiny. Given that the terms and conditions of the contract fall within the realm of civil matters, the court has been petitioned to endorse the 'C' summary report.