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Synopsis

The Supreme Court on Friday heard a series of petitions filed by the creators of Amazon Prime Video's controversial series 'Tandav' for clubbing of several First Information Reports (FIRs) lodged against the show's makers across six cities for allegedly offending religious sentiments.

The bench, led by Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan, heard the case and granted Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh three weeks to file status reports on the ongoing cases related to the web series pending in those states.

The Court had previously directed the respondent states to file a status report pertaining to the status of the various FIRs filed against the web series. 

While calling for a status report on the FIRs, Senior Advocate Siddharth Luthra, representing the petitioners, informed the court that the matter in Karnataka is still active, whereas the cases in Uttar Pradesh have been closed. Hence, the focus must remain on Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh.

Advocate Ruchira Goel, representing Uttar Pradesh, reported that all cases registered or transferred to the state have been closed, with closure reports submitted by the authorities. She also informed the court that there were three FIRs in total, and closure reports for each have been filed accordingly.

The Counsel representing the state of Maharashtra notified the court that the FIR registered in Ghatkopar has been transferred to Uttar Pradesh.

Additional Solicitor General SV Raju informed the court that as far as Delhi is concerned, "the matter had become infructuous". The only matter previously pending there has been transferred to Lucknow.

On the other hand, the Counsel representing the state of Madhya Pradesh told the court that as of April 2024, investigations into the relevant FIRs were still ongoing. He requested additional time to submit a status report.

Background:

Several FIRs had been filed against the nine-episode web series "Tandav," for allegedly offending religious sentiments by depicting Hindu gods in a negative light. The series was accused of intentionally promoting religious enmity and outraging Hindu feelings. These accusations involve several offences under the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including Sections 153-A, 295-A, 505(1)(b), 505(2), 34, and Sections 66 and 67-A of the Information Technology Act, 2000.

The Supreme Court in January 2021 had refused to quash FIRs for hurting religious sentiments against makers and actors of the controversial web series.

In New Delhi New complaint was filed by Hindu Sena Chief Vishnu Gupta alleging that in first episode of the web series, one of the accused actor Mohd. Zeeshan Ayyub has disguised himself as Lord Shiva and has stated that Lord Ram’s followers are constantly increasing on social media and that Lord Shiva’s followers should also make some new strategies to increase their fan base.

The complainant(s) have further alleged that this particular remark in the web series deliberately and maliciously passed, is absolutely derogatory & outrages religious feelings of Hindus by mocking Hindu Gods, without any justification and with the sole intention to promote enmity.

The cases have been filed u/s 200 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and the complainant has accused the defendants of committing offences under Sections 153A, 295A, 505(1)(b), 505(2), 34 of the IPC and Sections 66/67A of the IT Act 2000.