The Supreme Court on Monday ordered that all criminal complaints made against director Leena Manimekalai concerning the image of Goddess Kaali in a film poster be transferred to the Delhi High Court.
A bench comprised of Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud, Justice PS Narasimha and Justice JB Pardiwala gave liberty to Manimekalai to approach the Delhi High Court for quashing of the FIRs in question.
“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 protecting 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,” the bench stated.
Following the judgment, Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati requested that the petitioner be directed to cooperate in the investigation.
“Apart from the film there is nothing else. She is a young girl, you can speak to her on video call or something,” the CJI noted.
In January 2023, the Supreme Court temporarily shielded the director from coercive action on the basis of first information reports (FIRs) filed against her for depicting Hindu Goddess Kaali smoking a cigarette in a poster for her next film.
The bench found that several FIRs in various states would cause severe prejudice to Manimekalai and ordered that they be combined, after which she might apply to the relevant High Court for a quashing under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
Manimekalai’s petition asked the court to order the dismissal of all nine FIRs filed against her in various states.
