Indian court lifts TV soap ban

By Subir Bhaumik
BBC correspondent in Calcutta

Bradford is one of the world's biggest selling authors

The Calcutta high court has ruled that a private Indian TV channel can air a soap opera which has upset best-selling author Barbara Taylor Bradford.

Ms Bradford, who says the serial is a plagiarised version of one of her novels, had obtained a court injunction against the Sahara Entertainment channel's show.

She said the plot of the soap opera was all too familiar, resembling her 1979 novel A Woman of Substance.

The TV serial - Karishma, The Miracle of Destiny - is said to be India's biggest and perhaps the most expensive, and stars one of Bollywood's most popular actresses, Karishma Kapoor.

It spans three generations with Karishma playing a rags-to-riches heroine. Some of the episodes have even been shot on foreign locations as far as New Zealand.

It was scheduled to launch on Monday, and run for 260 episodes.

The court lifted the injunction when lawyers for the TV channel revealed Ms Bradford had already filed a similar case before the high court in Bombay (Mumbai).

It is not clear whether the channel will now screen the episodes or wait for Ms Bradford's next move.