Krishna idol in copyright mess

According to the FIR filed by Kishor Pralhad Khadse, the Sadvichar Darshan Trust, an outfit of the Swadhyay Parivar, has a copyright over the idol’s design and the trustee of a local temple, Sudhakar Kashinath Joshi, had made a copy.

‘‘The idol looks similar to that of the copyrighted idol, but we need opinions from experts on whether it is an exact replica of the original,’’ inspector D.S. Gadekar from Jilhapeth police station said. ‘‘We are awaiting technical advice and investigating the case. No person has been arrested, but a case registered under Sections 14, 45, 48, 51 and 63 of the Copyright Act is being investigated.’’

The accused in the case was working with the Swadhyay Parivar, which has a copyright over the idols’s design, before he decided to go his own way. He is now a trustee of the Sant Dyaneshwar Mandir Trust at Pratap Nagar, Jalgaon and has filed an application to demand the idol back for installation at the temple. The case is pending in court and is scheduled for hearing on January 31, 2005.

‘‘Our trust resolved to establish an idol of Yogeshwar ShriKrishna in our temple way back in 1978 but there was delay for want of funds,’’ Joshi said. ‘‘Our idol looks similar to the original idol at Swadhyay Parivar’s Tatvadnyan Vidhyapeeth but there are vital dissimilarities — like our idol has the right foot forward, is standing on a lotus and has one peacock feather in the crown, while the original idol has the left foot forward, is standing on the globe and sports three peacock feathers.’’

DSP Pravin Salunke said the matter had also been referred to some experts in Delhi for opinion on the alleged violation of the Act. He said a chargesheet would be submitted to the court after the conclusion of investigations.