'Can't hold actors liable for for dialogues', says Delhi High Court while hearing complaint against Sacred Games. In-court proceedings detailed here

The Delhi High Court has made key observations while hearing the PIL that has been filed against Netflix's hit India original show Sacred Games by a man who had identified himself as a Congress leader and had alleged that the Saif Ali Khan-starrer was derogatory to former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

Hearing the plea on Monday, the Delhi High Court first asked whether a PIL could be entertained on an issue of this nature and added that actors can't be held liable for dialogues. 

After asking the petitioner why the actors had been made a party to the case, the court said:

'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?'

At this point, Netflix's counsels told the court that all eight of the episodes have already aired and that nothing new would be aired. (It is unknown at this point if this statement has anything to do with a potential second season)

The judge then asked: 'It's already on air. What do we stop?'

The petitioner then put forth his complaint: 'There are two scenes where the English translation has a different derogatory word. They have modified some but need to take out these scenes. It's a scene against a former PM for now. What happens next? Would these be the standards that are aired?'

The High Court then asked: 'Can the court hear an issue of defamation in a PIL? This will have a larger implication because there can be sometimes issues where we have seen effect of social media and what consequences it has.'

The court then listed the matter for hearing on Thursday.

The complainant had earlier identified himself as Tariq and claimed to be a member and supporter of the Congress party. Tariq's was one of three Congress complaints against Sacred Games, all of them, over the depiction of Rajiv Gandhi.

Netflix's Sacred Games: After Congress' Complaint, Here Are 4 Reasons Why Rahul Gandhi Should Tell His Leader To Chill Out

On Sunday, a West Bengal Congress leader named Rajeev Kumar Sinha had said he would withdraw the complaint he had filed over the issue following Rahul Gandhi's tweet on the matter. Sinha said the Congress president had opened his eyes in the matter, writing:

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Sub: Withdrawal of complaint against Netflix, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, producers of serial Sacred Games.

Dear Sir,

With the inspiration of tweet by our National President and voice of people Sri Rahul Gandhi ji,I learnt that forgiveness is much bigger than anything else in this mortal world.

With the highest respect to Sri Rahul Gandhi, I, Rajeev Sinha, will withdraw a complaint tomorrow July 16 at Girish Park police station, Kolkata, at 12 in the noon which I lodged on 10/7/2018 against Netflix, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, and producers of serial Sacred Games,and urge to the ministry of broadcasting to make such guidelines or rules that nobody can use abusive language for our great martyrs in the name of freedom of expression.

I, myself, am the biggest supporter of freedom of expression as the great Gandhian ideology disallows to prevent anybody to speak. I urge people from different fields to maintain the discourse as it can hurt more people like me at some point of time. The intolerance in the country is so high that people get hurt on social media sometimes.

Today Rahulji’s tweet was an eye-opener for me. I completely agree with him that Bharat Ratna Late Rajiv Gandhi ji and his contribution and charisma is above all these petty things. Sri Rahul Gandhi has presented an example of forgiving, and we should stick to our principles of Gandhism, which is non-violent and for the sake of integrity and unity of our Country it is indeed the need of present situation in our country.

Regards
Rajeev Kumar Sinha
Member (WBPCC)

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Here is Rahul Gandhi's tweet:

READ | Swara Bhasker Lauds Rahul Gandhi On 'Sacred Games' Controversy

Earlier, urging the Kolkata Police to file an FIR in the case, the complainant who is part of the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee, requested that appropriate sections of the IT Act and the Indian Penal Code be slammed against Netflix, Siddiqui and the producers of the show.

'Sacred Games' hit popular-online viewing platform Netflix on 6 July 2018 and has been garnering raving reviews ever since. 'Sacred Games' which stars Bollywood actors Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Radhika Apte and Saif Ali Khan is based on author Vikram Chandra's thriller novel from 2006 by the same name. The First Season of the show, which has gone viral across India, has eight episodes. 

Apart from oozing in confidence and pulling off a complex plot-line through some stellar performances, the Saif Ali Khan-starrer has painted Indian digital screens with some super binge-worthy content-- pulling traditional 'silver screen' shows from the melodramatic family dramas to world-class film production. Here's more on that front. 

READ | Sacred Games Season 2 Is A Certainty Because Of These Huge Unanswered Questions From The Hit Netflix Mini-series