The Supreme Court on Friday granted interim protection to Amazon Prime Video's India commercial head, Aparna Purohit, with regard to the first information report registered by Uttar Pradesh police over the web-series Tandav's alleged attempts to outrage religious sentiments.
The bench, comprising justice Ashok Bhushan and justice R Subhash Reddy, granted protection subject to the applicant appearing when summoned by the police and cooperating with the investigation.
Order: Petitioner is alleged to only be an officer of the company. In the meantime, we direct that the Petitioner should not be arrested, subjected to her cooperation. #Tandav #ITGuidelines #SOCIALMEDIAGUIDELINES
— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) March 5, 2021
The court also issued a notice on Purohit's petition challenging the refusal of pre-arrest bail by the Allahabad high court.
The legal website, Live Law, stated that the bench also expressed dissatisfaction with the new regulations for OTT platforms introduced by the Central government. Justice Bhushan reportedly told the solicitor general that the new regulations ''lack teeth'' without a provision for fines or prosecution. The solicitor general has assured the court that any steps taken with regard to regulations would be presented before the court and that a ''better draft'' of the rules could be produced for the consideration of the court.
Bench dictates order: One issue that has cropped up is uncontrolled viewing of scenes on Prime Video. Union of India has issued notification - the Rules. The Rules are in the nature of guidelines with no effective regulation of screening or taking appropriate action.
— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) March 5, 2021
In its observation on Thursday, the bench had remarked that OTT content deserves some ''screening'' and also pointed out that some platforms ''even show pornography''.
On 25 February, the Union ministry of Information & broadcasting passed a new amendment to the Information and Technology Rules, 2021, which imposed self-regulation on OTT platforms under ministry oversight.
The makers of Tandav, as well as the OTT platform, Amazon Prime, have issued a formal apology. The makers have also removed the objectionable content in the series, in accordance with recommendations by the I&B ministry.