The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought the Delhi Police’s response on a petition filed by content creation company The Viral Fever (TVF) challenging the registration of criminal complaints in connection with their web series, “College Romance”.
A bench of Justices AS Bopanna and Hima Kohli also passed an order continuing the appellants’ previous interim protection from arrest and detention.
The matter will be heard again in the second week of July.
The bench was hearing appeals against a Delhi High Court decision from March this year that declared the language used in the series was filthy, profane, and vulgar, and would deprave and corrupt the brains of young people.
Single-judge Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma stated that she had to view the episodes of the show through earbuds in the chamber because the profanity of language used could not have been heard without shocking or alarming the people surrounding her.
The High Court ruled that TVF, the show’s director Simarpreet Singh, and actor Apoorva Arora could face legal action under Information Technology (IT) Act Sections 67 (publishing or transmitting lascivious material in electronic form) and 67A (punishment for publishing or transmitting material containing sexually explicit act).
In this regard, the High Court upheld the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s (ACMM) order directing the Delhi Police to file a first information report (FIR) against the three accused.
According to the High Court, Indian morals and values may only be considered in the Indian context, while keeping in mind current civility and morality norms.
The judge noted that the order to file a FIR does not contain an order to arrest any of the accused or petitioners.
The High Court has even asked that the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) take efforts to ensure that its IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 be strictly enforced.
During today’s hearing on the appeal, the Supreme Court stated that it could not grant a blanket stay on the inquiry or criminal proceedings at this time.
Senior advocate, Harish Salve, appearing on behalf of TVF, argued that vulgarity should not be used to invoke Section 67 of the IT Act.
“There is so much profanity on social media that if we prosecute every case, who knows where we’ll end up? According to the High Court, it is like an act (of explicit content),” he added.
He further added that the parliament has not criminalised swearing, and that in this case, no evidence would be destroyed because all of the content is available online.
“Police will unnecessarily seize computers. These are young actors… These are not hardened criminals, but rather young people who worked on a creative initiative. If they breached a line, they will not do so again after being rapped on the knuckles,” he added.
Senior Advocate KV Viswanathan, appearing for the director, stated that not providing protection would have a chilling effect, and that no offence had been established prima facie.
“We can’t tell the investigation agency what they can and can’t look at,” Justice Kohli said.
