'Tandav' Web Series Row | Supreme Courts Directs States To File Status Report On FIRs, Adjourns Hearing To August

The Supreme Court of India on Wednesday adjourned to the first week of August, the hearing in a batch of petitions filed by the makers of Amazon Prime Video's 'Tandav' for clubbing and transfer of first information reports (FIR) lodged against them in six cities for allegedly hurting religious sentiments. At the behest of Senior Advocate Sidharth Luthra, a bench of Justices BR Gavai and JB Pardiwala also directed the official respondents to file a report with respect to the status of the various FIRs against director Ali Abbas Zafar, producer Himanshu Mehra, writer Gaurav Solanki, actor Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub and Aparna Purohit(Amazon Prime, Creative Head). "This matter is coming up after a while. We do not know the status of the FIRs in Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh. Once we have the status report, we would be better informed on how to proceed and this matter can be put to rest," the senior counsel told the bench. Additional Solicitor-General SV Raju however insisted that all necessary information had already been furnished in a counter-affidavit. "That is for the FIR in Delhi," Luthra argued. UP Additional Advocate-General Garima Prashad began apprising the court of the status of the complaints lodged in the state of Uttar Pradesh. However, Justice Gavai interjected, saying, "You file a status report so that we know what is the current position."Ultimately, directing the matter to be listed after four weeks, the bench pronounced, "Respondent shall file a status report pertaining to the present status of various FIRs. Put up after four weeks." Background Under the scanner are the makers of Amazon Prime Video’s web series ‘Tandav’ – a nine-episode-long political thriller released in January 2021 which courted controversy for allegedly hurting religious sentiments. After the release of multi-starrer series, multiple FIRs were lodged across the country against its director, producer, writer, actors, as well as Amazon India Original’s head Aparna Purohit under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and the Information Technology Act, 2000. In the same month, the Supreme Court heard a plea moved by director Ali Abbas Zafar, producer Himanshu Mehra, writer Gaurav Solanki, and Aparna Purohit praying for the quashing of the proceedings, and the clubbing and transfer of all complaints to a single police station. While a bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, R Subhash Reddy, and MR Shah issued notice in the batch of petitions, it refused to grant any interim protection to the accused. Besides this, the top court also rejected the petitioners’ prayer for quashing of the FIRs. It however clarified that the pendency of this petition would not prejudice the right of petitioners to seek appropriate remedies from concerned courts for bail or quashing of FIRs. In March 2021, Purohit was granted interim anticipatory bail, which was later confirmed by an apex court bench headed by Justice Sanjiv Khanna in December of last year. Case Details Himanshu Kishan Mehra & Ors. v. State of Uttar Pradesh & Ors. | Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 48 of 2021Aparna Purohit v. State of Uttar Pradesh & Ors. | Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 50 of 2021Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub v. State of Uttar Pradesh & Ors. | Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 49 of 2021

'Tandav' Web Series Row | Supreme Courts Directs States To File Status Report On FIRs, Adjourns Hearing To August

Awstika Das

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