AIB Knockout case: HC refuses interim relief to Ranveer, Arjun
Bombay HC declined to grant any interim relief to Ranveer Singh and Arjun Kapoor over an FIR filed against them and other film personalities for using "obscene" and "abusive" language during a 2015 comedy event "AIB Knockout". A bench directed the actors' lawyer to seek the assent of Acting CJ VK Tahilramani's court for the matter to be heard along with two other pleas.
PIL seeks action against the organizers and participants of show
One of these two pleas was filed by comedian Rohan Joshi of AIB seeking that a related FIR against him be quashed. Another plea was filed by a law teacher. The PIL seeks action against organizers and participants of the show, and also urges the HC to direct the state authorities to issue guidelines to monitor such programs on YouTube and similar video networks.
Actors asked for interim relief
Ranveer and Arjun, meanwhile, urged the court to direct to provide an interim relief. The bench, however, said it will consider the prayer once all the three pleas were tagged together and assigned for further hearing by the Acting CJ's court.
What was the matter?
On December 20, 2014, Singh and Kapoor, along with eight other celebrities, including Karan Johar, Deepika Padukone and members of the AIB team had performed at a charity event in Worli. A video of the event was subsequently uploaded on YouTube which went viral. In February 2015, Sateesh Daundkar filed a complaint with Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, claiming the show was "vulgar, obscene and pornographic".
Court order FIR against 10 people
The court then ordered that an FIR be registered against all the ten people. Soon after, another FIR was registered against all the ten persons in Pune following a complaint by a local alleging obscenity during the event. Singh and Kapoor approached the HC earlier this year after they received the summons from Pune police, directing them to visit the police station for questioning.
Actors claimed FIRs against them was filed with mischievous intent
The actors claimed in their plea that the FIRs against them bore an ulterior motive and were filed with "mischievous" and malafide intent, and sought their quashing. In 2015, another bench of the HC had granted interim relief to Padukone, Johar, and the AIB members and directed both the Mumbai and Pune police not to take any coercive action against them until further orders.
The program was entertaining: Jethmalani
Senior counsel Mahesh Jethmalani, who appeared for AIB and for Kapoor and Singh, argued that the program was full of humor. He urged the court to grant interim relief to Kapoor and Singh, considering that other actors and comedians had already been granted such relief.
