HC quashes FIR against TV executives over ‘casteist dialogue’

The Bombay High Court quashed a 12-year-old FIR against Star Pravah programming heads over an allegedly objectionable dialogue in the serial *Laxmi versus Saraswati*, ruling they had no role in its creation and noting procedural lapses in prosecuting under the Atrocities Act 

Thane: The Bombay High Court has quashed a 12-year-old FIR against programming heads and media executives of a Marathi television channel over an alleged objectionable dialogue in a serial, holding that they had no role in its creation.

The case stemmed from an episode of the serial ‘Laxmi versus Saraswati’, which allegedly contained a dialogue insulting to the Scheduled Caste community.

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The FIR was originally registered in 2013 at the Wada police station in Maharashtra’s Thane district, following a complaint by one Rahul Gaikwad.

The complainant alleged that during an episode aired on August 22, 2012, a character used the words “mhara-poranchi” in the context of warding off the “evil eye”. It was argued that these words were used intentionally to humiliate members of the Mahar community, a Scheduled Caste.

The petitioners, including the programming head of ‘Star Pravah’ and Star Entertainment Media Pvt. Ltd., argued that they were not the content creators and had no role in the dialogue delivery, which they claimed was an “impromptu” utterance by the actor.

In the judgment delivered by a division bench of Justice Manish Pitale and Manjusha Deshpande on Tuesday, the court emphasised the strict requirements for prosecuting offences under the Atrocities Act.

“Since criminal prosecution for offence involves a serious matter, which can lead to imposition of fine and also incarceration, the examination as to whether the ingredients of the criminal offence are made out or not, has to be strict and specific,” it said.

The court further noted an oversight in the initial complaint regarding the identity of the accused: “A perusal of the above quoted provision [Section 3(1)(x)] shows that… such alleged acts are to be undertaken by a person, who is not a member of a scheduled caste or a scheduled tribe… The statement of the first informant and the contents of the FIR at no place even allege that the petitioners herein are not members of the scheduled caste or the scheduled tribe,” it said.

The court also held that the Star Entertainment company and the other petitioners had absolutely no role in finalising the dialogues. The petitioners were not responsible for the creative content or the “spur of the moment” dialogue by the actor, it said.

For a charge under the Atrocities Act to stick, the prosecution must explicitly state that the accused is not a member of a Scheduled Caste or Tribe, “a detail missing in this FIR”, said the HC.

The channel had displayed a disclaimer stating they did not endorse the views expressed in the serial, which supported their defence, it said.