In Brief
Zee Telefilms assigned satellite broadcasting rights of 16 Hindi films to four persons nominated by M/s. N.S. Films for 9 years by deed dated 23.12.1994. In 2003, after receiving a legal notice from another party claiming rights to these films, Zee filed a suit seeking declaration and injunction. The trial court dismissed the suit as barred by limitation, but the High Court allowed the appeal. The Supreme Court upheld the High Court, holding that the cause of action arose only after the 9-year assignment period expired (22.12.2003), not when Zee learned of adverse claims in 1995 while rights were assigned away. The suit filed in 2003 was thus within the three-year limitation period.
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