A single-judge bench of the Allahabad high court yesterday (February 25) rejected the anticipatory bail application of Aparna Purohit, a top-level executive of Amazon Prime Video in India, over a U.P. police FIR in NOIDA against the makers of the web series Tandav. Aparna and the makers have been accused of promoting religious enmity and defiling a place of worship.
The judge made strong observations while rejecting Purohit’s pre-arrest bail plea, and said, “The conduct of the applicant shows that she has scant respect for the law of the land, and her conduct further disentitles her to any relief from this court.” Justice Siddharth also remarked, “The fact remains that the applicant had not been vigilant and has acted irresponsibly, making her open to criminal prosecution in permitting streaming of a movie which is against the fundamental rights of the majority of citizens of the country and therefore, her fundamental right of life and liberty cannot be protected by grant of anticipatory bail to her in the exercise of discretionary powers of this court.”
However, Purohit has protection from arrest in a second case filed by the police in Lucknow. A different judge in the Allahabad high court four days back extended that protection till March 9.