Chetan Bhagat agrees to change setting of ‘Half Girlfriend’

Celebrity novelist Chetan Bhagat has informed the Delhi High Court, that he will change the settings of his popular bestseller ‘Half Girlfriend’. The response was to a suit filed against the author, by Prince of Dumraon a royalty from Bihar. Chandra Vijay is the eldest son of Maharaja Bahadur Kamal Singh, a two-term Lok Sabha MP and the last ruler of Dumraon before its accession to the Indian union in 1952. Chandra Vijay has also sought Rs one crore as damages from Bhagat.

The suit was filed alleging that “express and implied references” that were “false and derogatory in nature” was made against Chandra Vijay’s family in Bhagat’s book. The prince had objected to some words from the book that portrayed his royal family from Bihar as alcoholics and gamblers. Chandra Vijay has requested the high court to ban Chetan Bhagat’s book ‘Half Girlfriend’. The court on April 13 had sought the author and Rupa Publication’s response.

A bench of Justice Jayant Nath was informed through the author’s lawyer that Chetan Bhagat will change not only the words but also the setting of the book from princely state of Dumraon to a fictional place called Simraon, in the Hindi version. It also added that changes will be done in the English and Gujarati versions too.

Chetan Bhagat’s submission was opposed by Chandra Vijay Singh’s lawyer Avneesh Garg, who sought a permanent injunction restraining the author, Rupa Publications and all others from further publication, sale and circulation of ‘Half Girlfriend’ in its present form “with immediate effect”. He also added that the Dumraon royals were firm that they will not accept anything short of a full retraction of the original novel in English and an apology from Bhagat and the publishers.