Sacred Games-Rajiv Gandhi case: Actors not responsible for dialogues, says HC

The Delhi High Court on Monday said actors cannot be held liable for dialogues that allegedly insulted former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in the Netflix series "Sacred Games".

Petitioner advocate Nikhil Bhalla had filed a PIL through advocates Shashank Garg and Tariq Khan to which much to the relief of the makers of the series ‘Sacred games’, the HC asked if a plea can be heard as a PIL. The plea sought removal of allegedly abusive content which was derogatory and tarnished the image of late prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and also the series accuses Rajiv Gandhi of being involved in Bofors scandal.

A bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Chander Shekhar watched the CD of the show to understand as to why the actors were made a party to the case.

The bench said, “Why have you made the actor as a party to the case? Can we stop a viewpoint from being aired? Should we stall such a viewpoint from being aired? Shouldn’t the viewer make up his own point?”. It also asked how the actors could be held liable for simply enacting their characters.

In the controversial web series, the actors are seen abusing former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. The lawyer claimed that the series incorrectly depicted historical events of the like the Shah Bano case, Babri Masjid demolition, Emergency and communal riots.

“It’s already on air. What do we stop?”, asked the court. The bench also held that there was nothing urgent in the petition as eight episodes of the series have already been aired.

“Are there other remarks in the series or any other material as far as Rajiv Gandhi is concerned? You don’t require any CBFC certificate before airing?” the bench was quoted saying

Appearing for Netflix, Senior advocate Chander Lal and senior advocate Rajiv Nayar, said the series does not require a CBFC (Central Board of Film Certification) certificate.

The court will now hear the issue on Thursday.

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