EXCLUSIVE: Bombay High Court sets aside IMPPA’s award against Nikhil Dwivedi’s Saffron Magicworks

In a significant legal victory for producer Nikhil Dwivedi’s Saffron Magicworks, the Bombay High Court has set aside an award dated July 3, 2026, passed by the Indian Motion Picture Producers’ Association (IMPPA) against the production house, bringing the proceedings in the present suit to an end.

According to a statement issued by Saffron Magicworks, the court set aside the impugned award passed by IMPPA’s Dispute Resolution Committee (DRC), with the court recording that the suit stood disposed of and nothing further survived for consideration in the pending applications.

The development follows an interim order dated September 9, 2026, passed by Justice Arif S Doctor, under which the court had restrained IMPPA from declaring Saffron Magicworks a defaulter consequent to the disputed award until further orders.

The September order had also recorded a statement made on instructions by counsel for Defendant No. 2 that the party would not act upon the impugned award.

Saffron Magicworks had approached the High Court challenging the award passed through IMPPA’s dispute resolution mechanism and seeking protection against its implementation and the consequences that could follow from it.

In its latest order dated October 23, 2026, Justice Arif S Doctor specifically addressed IMPPA’s position, observing that since the association’s own committee had passed the purported award, IMPPA could not be aggrieved by its setting aside.

The Court further recorded that IMPPA, despite having been served, had not entered an appearance on any date during the proceedings.

The latest development assumes significance against the backdrop of the disagreement between the parties over the interpretation of the court’s earlier directions.

Saffron Magicworks has alleged that IMPPA’s public statement on the proceedings was materially misleading on the central question of whether the association had been restrained by the court. The production house’s position was that the September 9 order expressly prohibited IMPPA from declaring it a defaulter on the basis of the July 3 award.

The production house further maintained that any suggestion that the court had imposed no such restraint was inconsistent with the wording of paragraph four of the order.

The dispute had thus extended beyond the award itself to the interpretation and public representation of the court’s directions. With the award now set aside, the latest order marks a decisive development in Saffron Magicworks’ challenge to the proceedings initiated through IMPPA’s dispute resolution mechanism.

The Court disposed of the suit and pending applications, leaving open the rights, contentions and remedies available to the parties under law.

Advocates Rashmin Khandekar, Dhruva Gandhi, Madhu Gadodia, Vivek Dwivedi, Vinita Dandekar and Aryan Garg, instructed by Anand and Naik, appeared for Saffron Magicworks, along with the production house’s Chief Legal Officer, Kartikeya Desai.

Also Read: BREAKING: Nikhil Dwivedi’s Saffron Magicworks secures a Bombay High Court restraining order against IMPPA