Dharmendra Jore (MID-DAY; November 4, 2017)

Legendary ghazal singer Jagjit Singh's widow Chitra was extremely content on Friday, when the Enforcement Directorate (ED) hit all the right notes by raiding the Mumbai offices of the country's biggest music labels, for not paying music composers and lyricists royalty for years.

As per the officers' primary assessment, the fraud could be to the tune of Rs 1,500-2,000 crore. This amount was to be paid as royalty to the rightful owners of the copyright.

ED has found in its probe that the music industry captains collected royalty from consumers, but did not pay 50% of its share to music composers and lyricists. The case is being probed under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) 2002 and Indian Copyright Act which was amended in 2012.

Taal order
Chitra, who has offered ghazal connoisseurs unforgettable numbers with her late husband, had filed an FIR with ED last December. Following investigations, ED raided the top most music companies - T Series, Yash Raj, Universal, Sony and Saregama, on Friday.

"I wasn't sure as nobody was helping me. It's been a tough fight for a single woman like me. But ED took up my case, thanks to a bunch of nice officers in Mumbai. Now I'm confident that the agency will take my case to its logical end and punish the guilty," Chitra told mid-day on Friday.

Hitting a sour note
"Two top ghazal singers (one of them is a known bhajan singer) did not help me when I decided to fight, which would benefit them as well. These are the people who would frequent my home and say they respected my husband so much," she added.

Chitra said that after seeing the effectiveness of her complaint and the subsequent investigations, the singer duo has approached her lawyers in New Delhi with a plea that their case should also be taken up. "What can I say about these people? I'm cooking the food and now these 'selfish' people are out to eat it. But I took the step without anybody's support only because I wanted fellow workers to be protected against cheating by big players," said Chitra.

A source in ED said, "Hiding facts amounts to criminal offense. All stakeholders were told that the composers and lyricists were paid royalty as per the rule, whereas the money collected for this purpose was parked with (recording) companies or individuals other than the people eligible for getting their dues." Industry sources said some legal issues related to the India Performing Right Society Limited (IPRS) and Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL) too should be blamed for the mess. IPRS is a copyright society that issues licenses for public performances. The society pays royalties to legal heirs of deceased members. PPL has been functioning as the copyright society for sound recordings. It is mandatory for those who play pre-recorded music to take prior license from them. ED has summoned Bhushan Kumar of T Series for interrogation on Saturday, said sources in ED, Mumbai.

The petition
Last year, Chitra Singh had petitioned the Delhi High Court alleging that the IPRS was still issuing licenses for her husband's work, though not competent to do so under the Indian Copyright Act, and the said concerts breached various intellectual property rights held by her as his surviving heir. She alleged that she had not received any royalty for such concerts. The Delhi HC had ruled that the IPRS was incompetent to grant licenses as per Section 33 of the Copyright Act.

While fighting for royalty over Jagjit memorial concerts, wife to attend tribute show on his death anniversary
Shlipi Sampad & Soumya Vajpayee Tiwari (MID-DAY; September 26, 2016)

It all started with recreating Jagjit Singh’s iconic number, Koi Fariyaad, from Tum Bin (2001) for the trailer of the film’s sequel. Following a rousing response on YouTube (10 million views in five days), director Anubhav Sinha and producer Bhushan Kumar have planned a tribute concert on the ghazal king’s fifth death anniversary on October 10.

What’s more, it will see the participation of his wife, Chitra Singh, who has been locked in a legal battle with event organisers and performers for using the musical maestro’s songs and pictures without coughing up royalty. On September 14, mid-day (PM edition) had reported about how she has been running between courts to reclaim her legendary husband’s properties.

When we reached out to Chitra, she told us the tribute concert is being organised by the Jagjit Singh Foundation. Titled Tum Bin Misses Jagjit at Rang Sharda, Bandra, will bring music industry stalwarts under the same roof. Sources share the line-up includes Talat Aziz, Mika, Ankit Tiwari, Arijit Singh and Rekha Bhardwaj. “In fact, Rekha will perform a duet with her filmmaker-lyricist husband Vishal Bhardwaj for the first time. Celebs from the fields of film, sports and business will also be invited and it will be streamed live for fans. Since Koi Fariyaad featured in each of Jagjitji’s concerts, the tribute event will have the soulful track being presented in various renditions,” says an insider.

The original ghazal, penned by Faaiz Anwar, was composed by Nikhil Vinay. The recreated version used Jagjit Singh’s voice recorded in 2000. Producer Bhushan says, “This is the first time I have seen audiences waking up to music in such a big way. It generally takes a week to ascertain fan reaction to a film’s music, but in this case, it has been phenomenal in every sense. Koi Fariyaad, a ghazal, has challenged the perception of the youth’s music consumption. That’s what prompted us to organise a concert to pay homage to the legend.”

After sold-out concerts, late Jagjit Singh’s wife runs between courts to reclaim his songs
Soumya Vajpayee Tiwari (MID-DAY; September 15, 2016)

On September 9, Singapore’s Esplanade hosted a sold-out show headed by singer-composer Shekhar Ravjiani of Vishal-Shekhar fame, for an audience dominated by the Indian diaspora soaking in memories of India as Ravjiani sang late Ghazal king Jagjit Singh’s iconic number, Tere baare mein jab socha nahin at the tribute.

Singh, who passed away at 70 in 2011, saw phenomenal success in a four-decade-long career, and was credited with polishing the Ghazal genre and bringing it global acclaim. He was also honoured with the Padma Bhushan and the Sahitya Akademi Award. But his wife, Chitra Singh, also an accomplished singer who in the early years had shared the stage and acclaim with Jagjit Singh, is far from happy.

She says the Singapore concert isn’t the only one that’s a thorn in her flesh. Earlier this year, similar performances surrounding her husband’s repertoire were organised in Mumbai, Delhi and Pune, and she had no role to play in their organisation, neither did the organising firm offer her the royalty she deserves. “I’ve always wished that Jagjitji’s songs are sung out of love and admiration to keep his legacy alive, not to commercially exploit his hard-earned goodwill by those with failed careers. My lawyers noticed that Panache, the event organisers behind the tribute concerts in Mumbai and Delhi, not only used Jagjitji’s name with pictures, but also played a video of an earlier concert in the backdrop, while musicians performed live on stage. It was a gimmick to fool Jagjitji’s innocent fans and create a sensation. This is not done. I own rights to all of Jagjitji’s properties,” she said.

Chitra is locked in an ongoing battle with IPRS (Indian Performing Right Society), the body in-charge of disbursing royalty to performers, including singers, lyricists and music composers, owed to them and their kin when their music is played at public platforms. Considering Jagjit passed away in 2011, and the Copyright Act was amended with regards to the IPRS in 2012, the matters of royalty became more complicated for Chitra.

In February 2016, Chitra moved the Bombay High Court against IPRS for intellectual property infringement, but lost. This, she chased with another case in the Delhi High Court in March. That turned out in her favour with the court ruling that in the case of Jagjit Singh tribute performances, IPRS would no longer be the one to issue permissions.

She draws attention to what she considers a breach of faith by violinist Deepak Pandit and tabla player Abhinav Upadhyay, long-time colleagues of Jagjit Singh, having accompanied him at concerts for 25 years. Ironically, the two participated in the tribute concert held this April in Pune, and the Singapore event too. “My lawyers made Deepak and Abhinav party in the case because they have acted as masterminds of the tribute shows. Despite the court’s ruling in March, Panache, Deepak and Abhinav went ahead with the Pune concert in April. IPRS was clearly instructed to cough up the royalty my husband deserved,” Chitra said. While she is happy to have his fans and other musicians keep her husband’s memories alive, she wants that the Jagjit Singh Foundation be the one to hand out licences and permissions for said tributes, and not IPRS. Chitra holds the post of chairperson of the non-profit foundation.

When mid-day contacted Abhinav Upadhyay, he defended himself saying the only purpose of organising tributes was to continue to promote the late singer’s music. “Of course, Chitraji should get all royalty that is due to her. But that matter is between her and IPRS. As far as seeking her permission for concerts goes, the songs that Jagjitji sang were written by various lyricists and composed by different musicians. She doesn’t have sole authority to grant permission on their behalf. I performed at the [Singapore] concert only to promote Jagjitji’s music. Perhaps Jagjit Singh Foundation should take an active part in keeping his music alive.”

Sheetal Madnani, senior manager, legal, IPRS, said, “Chitraji withdrew from the IPRS when she took matters to court. Owners of his music, like Sa Re Ga Ma [and other labels], have already intervened in the matter, because she doesn’t have any ownership of the songs. About the Singapore concert, there is a society similar to the IPRS in Singapore. Payments from the concert will go to that body. The IPRS hasn’t received any royalty from the said concert yet. We receive a cumulative amount generated from various live performances, radio channels, television, etc, twice a year.”