The Bombay High Court Tuesday granted interim protection from coercive steps of three weeks to director Mahesh Manjrekar and two producers Narendra and Shreyans Hirawat in connection with a case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 for allegedly portraying children in an objectionable manner in a film.
The court also issued notices to respondent authorities to respond to the plea seeking quashing of the FIR lodged by Mahim Police station on February 24
Last month, a special POCSO court had directed the Mumbai Police to probe makers of the Marathi film “Nay Varan Bhat Loncha Koni Nahi Koncha”, including Manjrekar.
Social activist Seema Deshpande and her NGO, through advocate Prakash Salsingikar, had filed a complaint before the court seeking action against Manjrekar and others claiming that the trailer of the movie, which was later released in theatres and on OTT platforms, contained “obscene material”.
“Respondent is directed not to take coercive steps or action against the petitioners till the next date of hearing,” the court noted.
The movie featured two teenage boys who grow up facing deprivation and brutality by society and become hardcore criminals.
“It has the tendency to corrupt and deprave the minds of those who are open to such immoral influence and (contents that) contain sexually explicit scenes,” the complaint had said while raising objection to the trailer of the movie and sought it to be removed.
The special court had allowed the plea and had directed appropriate action to be taken as per law after which Mahim police station registered an FIR, prompting Manjrekar to approach the High Court.
Senior advocate Shirish Gupte appearing for Manjrekar submitted that the Special Court’s order was based on a “non-application of mind” and also that the trailer, based on which the complaint was lodged, was immediately withdrawn from the social media platform.
Gupte said that the movie has been released after duly viewed by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) and it “does not involve in any manner any act that may be objectionable under the POCSO Act”.
“All acts leading to objections being raised were removed, including removal of trailers from the social media platform. It does not contain in any manner an act in derogation of the POCSO Act,” Gupte added.
Senior advocate Aabad Ponda appearing for Hirawats submitted that the offences alleged against the petitioners provide a maximum punishment of seven years. He added that in such cases, as per an earlier Supreme Court judgment in the Arnesh Kumar case, where police authorities in a undue haste have been taking resort to extreme action, the procedure under Section 41A of the CrPC, which mandates the investigating officer to issue a notice of appearance before the arrest, was required to be complied with.
Apprehending coercive action by the police, the petitioners sought interim relief from the High Court and submitted that they were ready to extend all cooperation to the probing authorities.
The bench said, “We are of the opinion that the petitioners made out a case for interim relief.” It also issued notices to the respondents — state government and Mumbai Police — seeking its response during the hearing after three weeks.
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