The Supreme Court has given temporarily protection to the filmmaker Leena Manimekalai from action on the basis of First Information Reports (FIRs) registered against her for depicting the Hindu Goddess Kali smoking a cigarette in a poster of her upcoming film.
A Bench comprising Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud has listed the matter for February 20, 2023 and has directed that in the mean time, no action is taken against the director.
The Court has determined there are several States which have filed FIRs and this is bound to create serious prejudice to Manimekalai and directed that they be clubbed together.
The Court said after this she could approach the relevant High Court for quashing the case under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
Manimekalai moved the Supreme Court seeking protection in multiple cases which have been registered against her for showing Hindu Goddess Kali smoking a cigarette in a poster of her upcoming film.
Advocate Kamini Jaiswal, who appeared for the filmmaker, stated that several FIRs were lodged in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and in Delhi as a result of which she was likely to be subjected to coercive proceedings in the same case in different states.
Manimekalai’s plea sought quashing of the nine FIRs registered against her. The filmmaker also complained of receiving open calls for violence against her, her crew and her family after she tweeted a poster of her film Kaali.
She argued in her plea that she has tried to project the goddess as radically inclusive and kind in her film.