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Synopsis

On Tuesday, Counsel for the Child Survivor of the Netflix docuseries ‘To Kill A Tiger’ during the court session remarked “It is my documentary. What is the point of filing (my sensitive photos from the documentary) in a sealed cover?”. These assertions were made after Advocate Vakul Sharma (representing the Trust) prayed to file highly sensitive photos of the child survivor, which were shown in the documentary, through a sealed cover. 

The bench of Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela remarked that “Let the photos come in a sealed cover, we will show you these pictures after we open the sealed cover”. 

During the hearing, the counsel for the survivor also argued that the petition of the trust was trying to suppress the voice and identity of the survivor. Additionally, the counsel for the survivor wished to place the documentary on record to give context to the case. The court granted the survivor’s request to place the documentary on record for examination. 

Previously, the Trust argued that at the time of filming, the victim was still a minor, and her consent was only obtained after she reached the age of majority. It was asserted that the documentary, filmed over 3.5 years in India, did not attempt to conceal the minor's identity, thus contravening the POCSO Act, Juvenile Justice Act, and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), all of which prohibit the disclosure of a minor victim's identity. It was also suggested that the consent obtained post-majority could be attributed to a form of ‘Stockholm syndrome’, implying the survivor felt compelled to comply with the filmmaker's requests.

Case Title: Tulir Charitable Trust Vs Union Of India & Ors (W.P.(C)-10185/2024 CM APPL. 59334/2024 CM APPL. 59465/2024)