The Allahabad High Court had recently rejected a bail plea filed by Commercial Head of Amazon Prime Video, Aparna Purohit in the case registered against her in connection with the web series ‘Tandav’. While rejecting the plea, the Court led by Justice Siddharth stated that the web series had hurt the sentiments of the majority community by displaying the characters of their faith in a disrespectful manner. The court also said that this type of show enlarges the gap between the higher castes and the scheduled castes, which the state is trying to prevent.
Mrs. Purohit approached the High Court after a First Information Report (FIR) was filed against her for offenses under Sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups), 295 (defiling place of worship), 295A (hurting religious sentiments), 505(1)(b), 505(2) (statements conducive to public mischief) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Sections 66 and 67 of the Information Technology Act.
The Court also stated that in the present Hindi filmmakers have ridiculed Hindu Gods and Goddesses and disrespectfully shown them like in PK, Oh My God, and so on. The recent Munawar Faruqui case was also referenced as the judge stated that it showed how the situation is worsening as even stand-up comedians are also able to mock the Hindu Gods.
The Court finally ruled that Mrs. Purohit’s fundamental right of life and liberty cannot be protected by a grant of anticipatory bail.
