New Delhi: Bollywood actor Tamannaah Bhatia has been summoned by Maharashtra Cyber Cell to appear in court in connection with the illegal streaming of the 2023 Indian Premier League on the FairPlay App. The actor is expected to appear before the Maharashtra Cyber investigating officer on April 29 for allegedly causing a huge loss to Viacom 18 group.
Actor Sanjay Dutt was also summoned in connection with the same case on April 23. However, he did not reach the cyber cell and said that he was not in India on the date. The actor has requested a date and time to record his statement.
The Maharashtra Cyber Cell registered a complaint after Viacom group, streaming rights holder of IPl, made allegations against FairPlay App. Tamannaah Bhatia has been summoned to be questioned to investigate the case further. According to the sources, IPL matches were illegally streamed on Fairplay app, and Bhatia is among the actors who promoted the betting application.
Viacom group stated in their complaint that they lost Rs 100 crore due to FairPlay's unauthorised screening of the Tata IPL (Indian Premier League) in 2023.
Back in 2023, the Maharashtra cyber police also questioned rapper Badshah in connection with an FIR registered against a few mobile applications, which also included Fairplay. Badshah was accused of allegedly urging the viewers to tune in on the application to stream the cricket matches.
“He and several other actors and celebrities have violated the broadcast rights of the complainant. The others involved in the promotion of the app will also be questioned,” said a senior officer of Maharashtra Cyber.
The Viacom 18 anti-piracy team found out that the Fairplay app had illegally streamed live Tata IPL matches between March 31, 2023, and April 7, 2023.
There were seven other apps—Foxi, Vedu, Smart Player Lite, Film Plus, Tea TV, and Wow TV— which were illegally streaming serials, reality series, and other content that was being broadcast on Viacom 18 platforms.