Indian TV soap back on air

By Zubair Ahmed
BBC correspondent in Bombay

A court in India has said a television network can broadcast a new drama serial after best-selling author Barbara Taylor Bradford earlier obtained a court injunction to prevent its transmission.

Bradford hoped to stop the drama from being broadcast

Sahara Television plan to broadcast the series which Ms Bradford alleged was a plagiarised version of her novel 'A Woman of Substance'.

It has been advertised as having more than 250 episodes and several famous Bollywood stars.

Ms Bradford has seven days to appeal against the decision.

Justice MHS Ansari of the Calcutta High Court said he was removing the injunction on the serial because Ms Bradford's lawyers were unable to prove it had been plagiarised from her novel.

Guarantee

'A Woman of Substance' was the novel that first took her into the international best-seller lists.

But the court directed Sahara to provide a bank guarantee of 2.5 million rupees ($52,000), which would go to Ms Bradford if she managed to substantiate her claim that the story was lifted from her novel.

Sources in Sahara Manoranjan (Entertainment), which has produced the serial, 'Karishma: A Miracle of Destiny' said they were happy with the verdict.

The court said Sahara was free to air the drama from 7 July.

One of Bollywood's most popular actresses, Karishma Kapoor, is expected to make her small screen debut in it.

The makers say the television serial is India's biggest soap opera, with 260 episodes, 52 songs and a clutch of Bollywood stars.

Unusually for an Indian soap opera, some episodes were even filmed in foreign locations such as New Zealand.

The serial is a typical rags-to-riches story which spans three generations with Karishma starting as an ambitious 20 year-old who goes on to head a large business empire.