Supreme Court grants Amazon Prime India head protection from arrest
What's the story
The Supreme Court on Friday granted protection from arrest to the India Head of Amazon Prime Video, Aparna Purohit. Purohit faces a criminal case in connection with the web series Tandav on Amazon Prime Video. The court also noted that the central government's guidelines to regulate content on OTT platforms had "no teeth" as they lacked the power of prosecution. Here are more details.
Court
Court was hearing Purohit's plea against Allahabad HC order
A bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan and R Subhash Reddy on Friday heard Purohit's plea challenging a February 25 order by the Allahabad High Court. The HC had denied her plea for an anticipatory bail in an FIR filed in Greater Noida with regard to Tandav. Purohit was represented by senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi while Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appeared for the central government.
Courtroom exchange
SC issues notice to Centre
The SC on Friday issued a notice to the Centre in the matter. It also granted Purohit protection from arrest provided she continues to cooperate with the investigating agency. On Thursday, the court had asked the Centre to submit and circulate the Information Technology (Guidelines for intermediaries and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, which seek the regulation of content on OTT platforms.
Courtroom exchange
'No teeth,' SC says on OTT regulations
According to Bar and Bench, after perusing the OTT regulations, Justice Bhushan remarked, "We went through the Technology intermediary guidelines. But there is no teeth. No power of prosecution. These are just guidelines. No mechanism to control it. Without legislation, you cannot control it." Mehta then informed the court that the Centre will prepare a draft law and submit it before the court.
Defense
Already removed 2 scenes: Purohit's lawyer
Rohatgi told the court, "We have already removed two scenes, and if Solicitor General says we will remove a few more scenes." Alleged objectionable scenes have already been removed, he said. Rohatgi also highlighted that Purohit has been cooperating with the investigating agency, adding that she is only an employee of the company which owns the platform on which the web-series can be viewed.
Context
Allahabad HC had rejected Purohit's bail plea
The Allahabad High Court had recently rejected Purohit's bail plea, noting that the sentiments of the majority community were hurt by the display of the characters of their faith in a disrespectful manner. The HC had also ruled that the use of the word "tandav" can be offensive to the majority, as it is associated with an act assigned to the Hindu God Shiva.
Case
Purohit booked for hurting religious sentiments, promoting enmity, etc.
The charges against Purohit cover Sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups), 295 (defiling place of worship), 295A (hurting religious sentiments), 505(1)(b), 505(2) (statements conducive to public mischief) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Sections 66 and 67 of the Information Technology Act. Cases were also registered against Tandav's Director (Ali Abbas Zafar), Producer (Himanshu Mehra), and Writer (Gaurav Solanki).