BENGALURU: Accusing Chetan Bhagat of plagiarism, Bengaluru-based author Anvita Bajpai sued the celebrity writer for copying her short story in his book "One Indian Girl". Bhagat has denied this allegation in a Facebook post.
Chetan Bhagat's 2016 bestseller has been served a temporary injunction by the Bangalore High Court. This move stays the sale of the book, which Anvita Bajpai claims is an "an intelligent copy" of her story 'Drawing Parallels' from the book 'Life, Odds & Ends'.
"He has copied my short story completely. Everything, right from the beginning to the end, including how the female lead in my story meets her boyfriends and how she traverses through different lovers and how she breaks up. Even the part where she travels has been lifted by Bhagat," says Bajpai, an IIM and IIT graduate.
Anvita Bajpai's book 'Life, Odds & Ends' was published in 2014, and she claims to have given Chetan Bhagat an autographed copy when she met him at the Bangalore Literature festival the same year.
"I gave a copy of my book to several people including Bhagat. I even wrote him a mail asking for a review of my book, but he never replied," she says.
The Bengalurean, who isn't a full time author, works as an IT professional at a firm in the city. Her second and latest book is "TURNING POINTS of uncommon people".
"I am in this stage of life where family has become a priority, so I didn't read the novel for the longest time. It was only when I saw its reviews on my Facebook feed, did I realise that its plot is very similar to the first short story of my first book," she says.
She then read the book thrice to come to the conclusion that the bestselling author had "copied the story and stretched it into a novel".
READ HER FULL POST BELOW:
Bajpai filed a suit at civil court in Bengaluru seeking permanent injunction restraining Bhagat and Rupa Publications from selling the book, and also seeking damages of Rs 1 lakh.
The Court granted the temporary injunction on April 19 until the next hearing, which is scheduled for June, informed Bajpai.
Did Bajpai enjoy reading One Indian Girl? "There are places where he has missed the female perspective. My 68-page long story is more feminist than his entire novel," she says.
Anvita Bajpai said that she expected Bhagat to ask her permission if he wished to "copy the creative work". She added that her primary motive is acceptance and acknowledgement for her work.