Tandav Controversy SC Hearing: Top Court Declines Interim Protection From Arrest To Makers Of Saif Ali Khan's Web Series

Several FIRs were filed in different parts of the country against the makers of Tandav for allegedly hurting religious sentiments.

(Source- Instagram)

New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India has refused to grant protection to Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub, Amazon Prime Video & makers of ‘Tandav’, from arrest in several FIRs registered against them. The top court on Wednesday (January 27) dismissed their pleas for protection from arrest. A three judge bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan noted that the court may consider the request for clubbing the FIRs registered against the makers but it cannot take the power of the HC under CrPC, a report in IANS said.

The apex court asked the concerned parties to approach High Court for anticipatory bail or quashing of FIRs. The top court also issued notice on plea of the makers of ‘Tandav’ to club several FIRs filed against them across the country. It sought responses from Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Bihar on the pleas.

Amazon Prime Video’s ‘Tandav’ has been mired into controversies since its release on January 15. Several political leaders expressed their displeasure over the content of the web series and accused the makers of portraying Hindu deities in bad light. At least seven FIRs have been filed against the makers for allegedly hurting the religious sentiments of the people.

Last week, director Ali Abbas Zafar issued a statement to announce the changes in his web series. The ‘Bharat’ director, who recently got married, said that the producers and creators had no intentions of hurting the sentiments of any individual or community.  "The cast and crew of Tandav have made the decision to implement changes to the web series to address the concerns raised towards the same. We thank the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting for the guidance & support in the matter," Zafar said in a statement. 

Earlier this month, the Bombay High Court granted three weeks transit anticipatory bail to Himanshu Krishna Mehra, Ali Abbas Zafar and Aparna Purohit.

The web series stars Saif Ali Khan, Dimple Kapadia, Mohd Zeeshan Ayub, Kritika Kamra, Dino Morea and Gauahar Khan in key roles. The political drama received mixed reviews from the critics. 

Amazon Prime Video has remained in news for all the wrong reasons. The OTT platform landed into another legal trouble after a complaint was filed at Uttar Pradesh’s Mirzapur district against the web series ‘Mirzapur’.

The complainant Arvind Chaturvedi had accused of makers of ‘hurting religious, social and regional sentiments’ through their web series. Last week, the UP police officials reached Mumbai to conduct an investigation in the case against the makers.