Supreme Court refuses to grant protection to Zeeshan Ayyub, Amazon Prime and makers of ‘Tandav’

NewsBharati    27-Jan-2021 18:48:43 PM
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New Delhi, January 27: Amid ongoing controversies over the Tandav, the supreme court on Wednesday refused to grant interim protection from arrest to the makers and actors of the Amazon Prime web series Tandav. Instead of giving the protections, the bench comprising Justices Ashok Bhushan, R Subhash Reddy, and M R Sha asked them to approach High Courts across the country for anticipatory bail.
 
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"We cannot use the power under Section 482 CrPC. We are not inclined to grant interim protection," the Bench said. The bench also said that it was rejecting the prayer for quashing of the FIRs.
 

Senior lawyer Fali Nariman, who was appearing for makers of Tandav, told the apex court that objectionable contents were removed and apologies were made and hence, nothing survives in the case now as ‘so-called religious sentiments that hurt the people were removed.’ On which, justice Shah added that the police can file closure reports if apologies have been made and the content is removed.
 

Moreover, when Advocate Siddharth Aggarwal who appeared for Tandav actor Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, contended that the views ascribed on screen cannot be prescribed to his client in person Justice Shah slammed him saying, "You cannot take up role without a reading script. You cannot play a role in hurting the religious sentiments of others
 
While hearing the case Justice Shah also said, "Your right to freedom of speech is not absolute. It's subjected to restrictions." Furthermore, the court also issued notices to Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Karnataka governments seeking their response on pleas for quashing FIRs against the makers.
 

Petitions were filed by actor Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub, Amazon Prime Video India, and makers of the web series seeking protection from arrest and clubbing of several FIRs registered against them for allegedly hurting religious sentiments and telecasting ‘objectionable content’.