Supreme Court rejects 'Tandav' makers' plea for protection from arrest

The makers of the web series are facing criminal charges for "hurting religious sentiments" of the people.

The Supreme Court rejected the plea of the makers of the web series 'Tandav', who had appealed for protection from arrest in the cases filed against them in several states- Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Bihar, Delhi and Chandigarh. The cases lodged against them allege inappropriate depiction of UP Police personnel and deities that are the cause of hurting religious sentiments of the people and adverse portrayal of a character playing the role of prime minister. They have been accused of "hurting religious sentiments", "promoting religious enmity" and "defiling a place of worship."

The makers apologised and noted that they had no intention of hurting anyone's sentiments and even made changes in the web series "to address concerns." The case was heard by a bench of justices Ashok Bhushan, RS Reddy and MR Shah. "Your right to freedom of speech is not absolute. You cannot play the role of character that hurts the sentiments of a community," the bench said addressing the petitions filed by actor Zeeshan Ayyub, Amazon Creative Head Aparna Purohit and the maker of the series Himanshu Kishan Mehra asking for a freeze on possible arrest.

The petitioners are being represented by senior lawyers Fali Nariman, Mukul Rohatgi and Sidharth Luthra. Referring to Ayyub's petition, his lawyer noted that the actor was working on a contractual basis and the views expressed in the series were of the character and not his personal. To this, the bench said, "You accepted the contract after reading the script. You cannot hurt religious sentiments." The apex court denied permission for interim protection and asked them to approach the High Court. The content of  the web series is not subject to censor board due to which many have demanded the regulation of the web content, predominantly by the BJP leaders.