War of Words

In February this year, Bajpai served Bhagat a legal notice, asking him to withdraw the book and to pay a sum of Rs 5 lakh as compensation. Bhagat responded a month later, denying all charges. Bajpai then approached the civil court seeking permanent injunction to restrain Bhagat and his publisher from selling the book. “The Hon’ble Court, after hearing the advocate for Mrs. Anvita Bajpai, has granted temporary injunction till the next of hearing, restraining Mr. Chetan Bhagat and the publisher from selling the Book .The injunction order came to be passed on 19th April, 2017,” Bajpai writes in the post. She has also claimed Rs 1 lakh as compensation.

Bhagat responded to Bajpai’s Facebook post with one of his own. In it, he says, “This is deeply unfortunate. This is, for one, an absolute surprise for me as I have never read any of this author’s works. My stories are always original — including One Indian Girl — and it is unthinkable for me to do anything like what is suggested. Surely, alleging anything like this in the current digital age is strange. I write universal stories about everyday issues. This could be a misunderstanding and am sure will be clarified as what is being suggested is baseless. My publisher’s legal team will be taking appropriate steps.”

When contacted, Bajpai, 40, said she had sent copies of her book to many writers, including Bhagat, seeking their opinion on her work. “I knew of him as an immensely popular writer, but I have never read his books or followed him on social media. I have watched films based on his books, though. I only came to read One Indian Girl recently when many people told me how similar Radhika’s character was to my protagonist,” she says. One Indian Girl is Bhagat’s sixth book and it features his first female protagonist, investment banker Radhika Mehta, who has to choose between the three men in her life. In Bajpai’s short story, her young protagonist Aliya is also a modern, working woman, who constantly compares her husband Mark with her first boyfriend, Krishna. Like One Indian Girl, it’s also about who she eventually ends up with. “Of course, mine is a short story and his is a novel, so he has had the chance to expand on many issues and introduce diversions, but, can make-up take away from how a woman really looks? The stories are too similar to be a mere coincidence,” she says.

A spokesperson from Rupa Publications refused to comment on the case. Calls and messages to Bhagat’s assistant went unanswered. The next hearing of the case will be in June.