Sunil Darshan’s appeal against Sunny Deol RESTORED by Bombay High Court in 18-year-old legal dispute over archived film ‘Good Morning India’ |

The Bombay High Court has restored film producer Sunil Darshan’s appeal against the actor Sunny Deol in a decade-long legal dispute over his shelved film ‘Good Morning India’.The court on Friday restored the producer’s appeal challenging a 2015 judgment of a single judge, while also imposing costs of Rs 15,000 on the filmmaker. According to Live and Law, the 2015 order had dismissed the arbitration petitions filed by both Darshan and actor Sunny Deol, in which each had filed claims against the other, over their dispute related to the shelved film.

Sunil Darshan takes legal action over Sunny Deol’s exit

According to reports, Darshan’s appeal had been dismissed after there was no appearance on his behalf during several hearings. However, the producer subsequently filed an interim application seeking the restoration of the appeal, which the court has now admitted.According to Hindustan Times, the dispute dates back to 2008, when Deol had agreed to star in ‘Good Morning India’ and allocate 40 days of shooting to the project. However, according to Darshan, the actor initially rejected the script, then approved a revised version, but subsequently could not cooperate with the production before walking out of the film.The producer claimed that he had taken a loan of Rs 3 crore to finance the project, for which he sought compensation of Rs 20 crore. He alleged “huge financial losses” due to Deol’s failure to honor the agreement.

CJI rejects Sunil Darshan’s Rs 20 crore claim

The matter went to arbitration before a former Chief Justice of India, who, in June 2011, rejected Darshan’s Rs 20 crore claim and ordered Deol to pay Rs 12 lakh.Both sides contested the ruling, with Darshan arguing that although the arbitrator had found Deol in breach of the agreement, his claim for damages had been wrongly dismissed. Deol, on the other hand, defied the direction of making him pay Rs 12 lakh.

The single judge dismisses the request

In April 2015, a single judge bench dismissed both the petitions and confirmed the arbitral award. The court also held that the arbitrator was justified in ordering Deol to pay Rs 12 lakh, citing the clear finding that the actor had breached the agreement.Both parties later moved the Bombay High Court, challenging the 2015 order.

Controversy ‘Don 3’

This update comes in the wake of the controversy surrounding Ranveer Singh allegedly backing out of Farhan Akhtar’s ‘Don 3’. The filmmaker hit the headlines after he claimed that his production house had already invested approximately Rs 45 crore in pre-production costs (including advance hotel/travel bookings and location scouting) and sought compensation.