Gujarat High Court: Following a representation filed by the followers of the Pustimargi sect and followers of Bhagwan Shree Krishna, Sangeeta K. Vishen, J., passed an ad interim order staying the release of the movie ‘Maharaj’, starring actor Amir Khan’s son Junaid Khan, which was scheduled to be released on Netflix on 14-06-2024.
A representation was filed by the devotees of Lord Krishna and followers of the Pustimargi sect that they had recently come across certain articles regarding the release of the movie ‘Maharaj’ on Netflix. The petitioners submitted that the movie is stated to be based on the Maharaja Libel Case of 1862, passed by English judges, which were likely to incite feelings of hatred and violence against the Pustimargi sect, resulting in breach of the code of ethics under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 (‘Rules of 2021’) and the Self-regulation Code of Over the Top Technology (‘OTT’).
Petitioners contended that representation was made by some other trust to the respondent in April 2024, however, requests for private screening had not been granted and neither was any clarification offered by the respondents in this regard, and this secrecy further exacerbated the suspicions of the petitioners, stating that the damage caused by the release of the movie would be irreversible.
Petitioners informed the Court that given that this movie was on the OTT platform, the governing provisions would be that of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (‘IT Act’) and the Rules framed thereunder and had also made a representation before the authorised officer for blocking the release of the movie on Netflix under Rule 16 of the Rules of 2021 read with Section 69-A of the IT Act. However, no action had been taken till date. It was submitted that the release of the movie would hurt the religious sentiments and was likely to cause public unrest, adversely impacting public order.
The Court, considering the submissions made by the petitioners, granted ad interim relief to the petitioners, staying the release of the movie on 14-06-2024, and further issuing notice to the respondents in the matter.
[Bharat Pranjivandas Mandalia v. Union of India, 2024 SCC OnLine Guj 2540, Order dated 13-06-2024]
Advocates who appeared in this case :
Advocates for the Petitioners: Mihir H. Joshi, Sr. Adv., Keyur D. Gandhi, Kunal J. Vyas, Devarsh Trivedi for Gandhi Law Associates.
