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

Sunil Darshan takes the legal rout over Sunny Deol’s exit

Darshan’s appeal had reportedly been dismissed after there was no appearance on his behalf during multiple hearings. However, the producer subsequently filed an interim application seeking restoration of the appeal, which the court has now allowed.As per Hindustan Times, the dispute dates back to 2008, when Deol had agreed to star in ‘Good Morning India’ and allocate 40 shooting days for the project. However, according to Darshan, the actor initially rejected the script, later approved a revised version, but subsequently failed to cooperate with the production before eventually exiting the film.The producer claimed that he had taken a loan of Rs 3 crore to finance the project, for which he sought Rs 20 crore in damages. He alleged ‘heavy financial losses’ due to Deol’s failure to honour the agreement.

CJI reects 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 directed Deol to pay Rs 12 lakh.Both parties challenged the ruling, with Darshan arguing that although the arbitrator had found Deol to be in breach of the agreement, his claim for damages had been wrongly rejected. Deol, on the other hand, challenged the direction requiring him to pay Rs 12 lakh.

Single bench judge dismisses petition

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

‘Don 3’ controversy

This update comes following the controversy kicked up over Ranveer Singh reportedly bowing out of Farhan Akhtar’s ‘Don 3’. The filmmaker made headlines after he claimed his production house had already invested approximately Rs 45 crore in pre-production costs (including advance hotel/travel bookings and location scouting) and sought damages.