A two judge SC bench reprimanded producer Ekta Kapoor. The court said, “Something has to be done. You are polluting the minds of young generation of this country.” Court passed this remark while hearing a petition filed by Ekta Kapoor.
An ex-serviceman Shambhu Kumar had filed a complaint against Ekta Kapoor in Begusarai, Bihar. As per complaint, Ekta Kapoor’s web series XXX has hurt sentiments of soldiers. Moreover, the series hurts the sentiments of families of soldiers.
Shambhu had filed the case in a lower court of Begusarai in 2020. It pertains to season 2 of Ekta Kapoor’s series XXX on her OTT platform AltBalaji. An episode titled “Pyaar aur Plastic”, has shown a wife of a soldier having extra marital affairs when her husband is on duty.
The Begusarai lower court had issued arrest warrants for Ekta Kapoor. She challenged the warrants in Supreme Court. During proceedings of this case, the judges have passed these remarks slamming Ekta.
The “You are polluting minds of young generation” comment is a serious indictment of content that Ekta Kapoor is creating.
Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatagi appeared for Ekta Kapoor. Mukul submitted that he has filed a petition before the Patna high court. But, he is not hopeful that the court will list it for hearing soon. Further, he said the top court had earlier granted protection to Kapoor in a similar matter.
“What kind of choice is this?”
While arguing for Ekta Kapoor, Rohatgi gave the argument of free choice. He said the content is subscription based and that there is freedom of choice in this country. Court took serious note of this line of argument.
The court, stopping short of imposing costs, then wondered what kind of choice is being given to people.
Something has to be done. You are polluting the minds of the young generation of this country. It is available to all. OTT (Over The Top) content is available to all. What kind of choice are you providing to the people?….on the contrary you are polluting the minds of youngsters.
SC bench of Justices Ajay Rastogi and C T Ravikumar said.