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The Bombay HC issued a notice to the various ministries, under the Union of India, in a PIL filed by a law clerk-cum-legal research assistant working at Nagpur bench of the HC.
A division bench comprising of Justice BP Dharmadhikari and Justice MG Giratkar heard S Dewani, appearing as petitioner DivyaGontia’s lawyer, and issued a notice to UM Aurangabadkar, Assistant Solicitor General of India, who appeared on behalf of the Ministry of Electronics and IT, Home Ministry, Ministry of Law and Justice and the Ministry of I&B.
The PIL sought action against all web streaming platforms, like Netflix,on the ground of exhibiting programs containing vulgar language and nude content which is in violation of the Indian Penal Code, Cinematograph Act, Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act 1986 and Information Technology Act, 2000.
The petitioner also sought directions to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, for the setting up of a pre-screening committee before these shows are allowed to stream online. Citing the example of “Sacred Games”, which gained popularity among the masses, the Petitioner observed that highly vulgar language has been used to depict the underworld environment and the dark side of the society along with certain sexually unpleasant and indecent scenes, beyond the permissible limits. The petitioner submitted that more importance was given to nudity, obscenity and vulgarity than the original plot of the story just to fetch the attention of youth.
Apart from Sacred Games, the petition gave the examples of GandiBaat that was released on ALT Balaji, Ragini MMS 2, Dev DD, etc. and stated that such explicit content should never be allowed to be screened in a movie theatre, however, due to the non-regulation of these online platforms, people have access to them.
The petitioner has also used the examples of North Korea and China to elucidate that the public needs to have free access to all kinds of online content, but that some regulation are required in the interest of the society. The court made the notice returnable on October 31.
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