Chetan Bhagat’s ‘One Indian Girl’ Caught In Plagiarism Row

Writer Chetan Bhagat has been in the midst of various controversies in recent times. But the one that has totally shocked his readers is that one of his books is under scanner for plagiarism. Bhagat’s ‘One Indian Girl’, that was released only six months ago and became his bestselling novel for 2016, has been facing plagiarism charges by Bengaluru-based author and research professional Anvita Bajpai.

Bajpai has alleged that Bhagat’s book “has an emotional flow” akin to her short story 'Drawing Parallels'. Her book, which is a collection of short stories, called ‘Life, Odds & Ends’ was published in 2014 by LiFi Publications.

“When I came across several Facebook posts detailing Chetan Bhagat’s latest book, it sounded a lot like my story. So I read through 'One Indian Girlfriend' and kept wondering how the content could be so similar. Then I realised that I had handed a copy of my book to him at the Bangalore Literature Festival in 2014 for feedback,” she told Scroll.

Bajpai realised the alleged plagiarism in February. She filed a complaint against it, sending Bhagat a legal notice on February 22. In the notice, Bajpai asked Bhagat to stop the circulation of the book and pay her an amount of Rs 5 lakh in return of the harm caused to her. However, Bhagat denied all allegations in March and now Bajpai has moved a civil court in Bengaluru.

In a facebook post, she wrote that the court “after hearing the advocate for Mrs. Anvita Bajpai, has granted temporary injunction till the next of hearing, restraining Mr. Chetan Bhagat and the publisher from selling the Book. The injunction order came to be passed on 19th April, 2017.”

Also Read: India’s Most Controversial Books of 2016

As the circulation of the book stopped, Bhagat also took to Facebook to address his fans and said, “This is deeply unfortunate. This is for one an absolute surprise for me as I have never read any of this author's works. My stories are always original -- including One Indian Girl -- and it is unthinkable for me to do anything like what is suggested. Surely, alleging anything like this in the current digital age is strange.”

“I write universal stories about everyday issues. This could be a misunderstanding and am sure will be clarified as what is being suggested is baseless. My publisher's legal team will be taking appropriate steps. My readers' trust is most valuable to me and I will never, ever compromise that,” he added in his post.

On the other hand, another one of Chetan Bhagat’s books -- ‘Five Point Someone’ -- has recently been included as a part of the BA English Honours course in Delhi University.

Picture credit- NDTV

More Stories by Poorvi Gupta

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