The Allahabad High Court has rejected an anticipatory bail application filed by Amazon Prime Video’s India Originals Head Aparna Purohit in relation to a case related to the web series, Tandav. Uttar Pradesh Police had filed an FIR in Noida against the makers of the web series and Purohit, among others, was accused of the derogatory depiction of Hindu deities on the show.
“Western filmmakers have refrained from ridiculing Lord Jesus or the Prophet but Hindi filmmakers have done this repeatedly and are still doing this most unabashedly with the Hindu Gods and Goddesses. The tendency on the part of the Hindi film industry is growing and if not curbed in time, it may have disastrous consequences for the Indian social, religious and communal order. There appears to be a design behind such acts on the part of the people who just give a disclaimer in all the films and depict things in the movies which are really religiously, socially and communally offensive in nature,” the court observed.
Justice Siddharth said in his order, “Whenever such crimes are committed by some citizens of the country, forces inimical to the interest of this country become active and they make it an issue and raise it before different national and international forums alleging that the Indian citizens have become intolerant and India has become an unsafe place to live.”
The judged observed that the young-generation might get an impression from such movies/web-series that what is shown in it is the reality. “It destroys the basic concept of the survival of this country having tremendous diversity of all kinds as a united nation. The film industry in the south has not indulged in such acts like the Hindi film industry,” the court said.
Tandav is facing at least 10 FIRs for hurting religious sentiments, intending to disturb caste and communal amity – charges punishable under Sections 153A and 295 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) with a maximum jail term of three years.
