The Highest Tribunal on Monday permitted an appeal lodged by Yash Raj Cinemas contesting a decree issued by the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC), instructing the film studio to compensate Rs 10,000 plus legal fees to a consumer aggrieved by the absence of the melody “Jabra Admirer” in the Shahrukh Khan-led “Admirer”.

A panel guided by Justice P S Narasimha proclaimed that the tribunal resolved the inquiries of whether a ‘preview’, which is distributed prior to the unveiling of a film, would establish a contractual duty and whether it was an unjust trade practice to omit the contents of the advertising trailer in the film. Exhaustive adjudication on the topic will be uploaded subsequently in the day. The apex tribunal rendered the decision on a petition lodged by Yash Raj Cinemas.

Afreen Fatima Zaidi, the plaintiff in the circumstance, viewed the film “Admirer” with her family following glimpses featuring the melody “Jabra Admirer”. Nonetheless, she was disheartened by its absence in the film. She demanded compensation and a directive to broadcast the previews with a cautionary note about the melody’s exclusion.

The film studio contended that Zaidi was not a customer and that the melody’s nonexistence had been publicly disclosed prior to the film’s debut.

Zaidi’s plea was rebuffed by the local consumer forum. Nonetheless, the Maharashtra Consumer Commission in 2017 decreed in her favor. The commission directed YRC to refund the plaintiff for Rs 10,000 in compensation as well as ₹5,000 for legal fees.