New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday directed that all criminal complaints filed against filmmaker Leena Manimekalai over the poster of her documentary film showing goddess ‘Kaali’ smoking a cigarette, be transferred to the Delhi Police. A bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala allowed Manimekalai to approach the Delhi High Court for quashing the FIRs registered against her.
The bench said, ‘We order and direct that all the FIRs shall be transferred to the IFSO unit special cell, Delhi. The ad-interim protection, which was granted to protect the petitioner from coercive steps, shall continue to operate in relation to present or future FIRs. The Petitioner is at liberty to move the Delhi High Court to file a Section 482 plea’.
In January, the top court granted interim protection from any coercive steps in multiple FIRs lodged against the filmmaker. It had directed that no coercive steps shall be taken against the filmmaker either on the basis of the FIRs which had already been or on basis of FIRs which may be lodged in relation to the ‘Kaali’ poster row. The apex court had taken into note that at this stage, the lodging of FIRs in multiple States may cause serious prejudice to the filmmaker.
Manimekalai approached the top court seeking protection and quashing of the multiple FIRs registered against her in various States. The poster of documentary depicts the Hindu goddess ‘Kaali’ smoking a cigarette in a poster. The plea had also sought clubbing of all the FIRs registered against her in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand over the poster. The filmmaker had also sought a stay of the criminal proceedings emanating from these FIRs.
Manimekalai had said her attempt as a creative filmmaker was not to offend the religious sentiment of anyone but to depict the image of a radically inclusive goddess. She had said she also received open calls for violence against her, her crew and her family, after she tweeted a poster of her film, Kaali. Manimekalai had challenged the proceedings against her in the district courts of Hazratganj in Lucknow, Ratlam, Bhopal and Indore in Madhya Pradesh, Haridwar in Uttarakhand and Delhi.
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