It is a legal clash between two music maestros in the Supreme Court over the copyright of a musical composition. Dhrupad vocalist Faiyaz Wasifuddin Dagar has moved the top court against the Delhi High Court’s decision to quash an order that had given him interim relief in a copyright dispute with music composer AR Rahman over ‘Veera Raja Veera’ song from Tamil film ‘Ponniyin Selvan 2’.A bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi on Friday asked Rahman and the makers of the film ‘Ponniyin Selvan 2’ to have “some acknowledgement” of the Dagarwani tradition’s contribution in the film’s song ‘Veera Raja Veera’.The bench said ideally the dispute should have been resolved across the table in the larger interest of music.“See, there should be some acknowledgement. This is not a fight between professionals. Your client (Rahman) is a professional musician. They (Dagars) have been traditional worshippers of classical music. They are not in the competitive field. They just want some respect and recognition,” the bench told senior counsel AM Singhvi who represented Rahman.“If these gharanas had not contributed to the shastriya sangeet, do you think these modern singers would have managed?” it said.The Dhrupad vocalist has challenged the September 2025 order of the high court that said there was no prima facie evidence of Junior Dagar Brothers being the authors of a classical rendition of ‘Shiv Stuti’.Faiyaz Wasifuddin Dagar, the son of Faiyazuddin Dagar and nephew of Zahiruddin Dagar, had submitted before the high court that he held the copyright in all original compositions of Junior Dagar Brothers, including ‘Shiv Stuti’. He alleged that the composition has been unlawfully infringed upon.The bench, however, noted that while Dagar made out a case on originality, the question of authorship would require independent evidence. “First performance does not necessarily mean authorship,” it told Dagar’s lawyer.Earlier, a single judge of the Delhi High Court had directed credit for the song to be shared with Junior Dagar Brothers. It had also ordered Rahman and the production entities to deposit Rs 2 crore with the high court. However, a division bench reversed the order, saying no sufficient prima facie case of exclusive authorship was made out at the interim stage.Reviving the single-judge’s order to Rahman to deposit Rs 2 crore pending disposal of the suit, the top court posted the matter for further hearing on February 20.The case relates to the use of a classical Dhrupad composition ‘Shiva Stuti’ in the Tamil film song ‘Veera Raja Veera’ composed by Rahman for ‘Ponniyin Selvan 2’ released on April 28, 2023.  Dagar alleged that a composition attributed to the late Junior Dagar Brothers had been included into the song without authorisation.