This Article is From Jan 27, 2021

Supreme Court To Hear Petitions Of "Tandav" Director Today

A bench comprising justices Ashok Bhushan, R Subhash Reddy and M R Shah would hear the petitions against the FIRs.

Supreme Court To Hear Petitions Of 'Tandav' Director Today

The pleas have made various state governments and police officers as parties (File)

New Delhi:

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Wednesday a batch of pleas seeking dismissal of criminal complaints lodged in various states against Ali Abbas Zafar, the Director of web series ''Tandav'', and others for allegedly hurting the religious sentiments of Hindus.

Besides Mr Zafar, Amazon Prime India head Aparna Purohit, producer Himanshu Mehra, the show's writer Gaurav Solanki and actor Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub have filed three separate petitions against the registration of FIRs in states like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra.

A bench comprising justices Ashok Bhushan, R Subhash Reddy and M R Shah would hear the petitions against the FIRs.

Earlier, the Bombay High Court had granted a transit pre-arrest bail to Nr Zafar, Mr Purohit, Mr Mehra and Mr Solanki against whom a case was registered in Lucknow for allegedly hurting religious sentiments through the web series

At least three FIRs have been lodged against the makers and artistes of "Tandav" in Uttar Pradesh - at Lucknow, Greater Noida and Shahjahanpur - for the alleged inappropriate depiction of UP Police personnel, deities, and adverse portrayal of a character playing the role of prime minister in the show.

Similar FIRs have been lodged against people associated with the making and airing of the web series in states like MP, Maharashtra and Karnataka.

The pleas have made various state governments and police officers as parties.

"Tandav", a nine-episode political thriller starring Bollywood A-listers Saif Ali Khan, Dimple Kapadia and Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub, started streaming recently.

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