The Supreme Court today condemned the Over The Top (OTT) platforms, saying some screening of their content was warranted. The court made this observation while hearing a petition that Amazon India head Aparna Purohit had filed. “A few OTT platforms are showing some kind of pornographic content,” the bench of Justice Ashok Bhushan said.
Purohit had earlier challenged the Allahabad High Court order that denied her pre-arrest bail against the criminal cases registered in connection with web series Tandav.
The Supreme Court has posted the matter for hearing again on Friday, asking the union government to submit before it the regulations on OTT platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime.
“A balance has to be struck as some OTT platforms are showing pornographic materials on their platforms,” the bench, comprising Justice RS Reddy, said.
Challenging the high court order, Purohit’s lawyer Mukul Rohatgi said that she is neither a producer, nor an actor but still she has been made an accused in the cases against Tandav. Rohatgi called this “shocking”.
Tandav which premiered on Amazon Prime in January this year, and since then, has been emboroiled in a number of controversies. A petition was filed against the makers and actors for hurting the religious sentiments by mocking Hindu gods in some scenes.
They were accused of showing Uttar Pradesh Police in poor light. Multiple complaints — including three FIRs in Uttar Pradesh — were filed against Purohit, Tandav director Ali Abbas Zafar, producer Himanshu Kishan Mehra and others. A UP Police team questioned the makers in connection with the case.
Earlier, the apex court, on 27 January, had declined to grant interim protection from any coercive action to Ali Abbas Zafar, Director of the web series, Purohit, producer Himanshu Mehra, the show’s writer Gaurav Solanki and actor Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub.
The nine-episode web series stars Saif Ali Khan, Diple Kapadia, Tigmanshu Dhulia and others.
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