Allahabad HC stays arrest of ‘Mirzapur’ producers

COMPLAINANTS SAID MAKERS OF SERIES PORTRAYED THE TOWN OF MIRZAPUR IN AN IMPROPER MANNER AND ADDED THAT THE SERIES HURT THEIR RELIGIOUS, SENTIMENTS

PRAYAGRAJ: The Allahabad high court on Friday stayed the arrest of producers of the webseries Mirzapur, Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani, in connection with the first information report registered against them in Uttar Pradesh’s Mirzapur district. The court, however, directed that the two offer full cooperation in the investigation.

Hearing the petition filed by Akhtar and Sidhwani, a division bench of the high court, comprising Justice Manoj Kumar Gupta and Justice Subhash Chand, also issued a notice to the state government and the complainant seeking counter affidavits.

The FIR was filed under various Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections, including Section 295(A) for attempts to outrage religious feelings by insulting beliefs, and relevant sections of the Information Technology Act.

The complainants alleged that the makers of the series portrayed the town of Mirzapur in an improper and indecent manner in the show. They alleged that the show hurt religious, social and regional sentiments of the complainant and are instrumental in advancing ill feelings and animosity in the community.

The court has now listed the matter for the first week of March 2021.

Counsels for petitioners argued that even if the allegations were taken to be correct, no offence was made out against the petitioners. They said that the web series was a work of fiction and every act, tantamount to insult or attempts to insult religious feelings, would not come within the purview of Section 295-A of IPC unless the said act was perpetrated with the deliberate and malicious intention of outraging the religious feelings of that class of citizens.

On the other hand, the state counsel submitted that there was specific allegation that the web series had hurt the social and religious feelings of the complainant. He also urged that the web series promotes illicit relationships and incites religious disharmony.

The web series Mirzapur was launched in 2018 by Excel Entertainment and due to its successful run, the second edition of the web series was launched in October 2020.

Last week, the Supreme Court issued a notice on a petition seeking a ban on the series for its obscene, vulgar depiction of women and showing the city, otherwise famous for rich cultural and historical value.