Netflix original 'Sacred Games' gets entangled in legalities

Netflix original 'Sacred Games' gets entangled in legalities

Media reports suggest MIB and the Health Ministry are exploring content guidelines for web series

Sacred Games

MUMBAI: Even as Netflix’s Sacred Games gets entangled in legal tangle, media reports suggested MIB is mulling content guidelines for web series, as per a report by Republic TV.

Media reports also stated that the health ministry is upset that web series on OTT platforms don’t run the scroll relating to dangers of tobacco and alcohol when such substances are shown being consumed by characters. Such messages appear in films and most TV serials.

Within a few days of its release, Netflix’s first Indian original Sacred Games has got into legal trouble. According to a Press Trust of India report, the Delhi High Court will hear a plea against the series on 16 July which sought removal of certain scenes. Some of its content has been claimed as inappropriate and derogatory in nature.

The division bench, comprising Sanjiv Khanna and Chander Shekhar before whom the matter came up, said it would go through the petition and CD. The allegation against the series is that certain scenes and dialogues in the show defame former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

The show allegedly "incorrectly depicts historical events of the country like Bofors case, Shah Bano case, Babri Masjid case and communal riots". Petitioner advocate Nikhil Bhalla filed the plea through advocate Shashank Garg.

The petitioners have asked through the plea to direct Netflix and the producer of the show Phantom Films to remove the alleged scenes as well as centre to ensure the act.

Netflix finally started streaming its much-hyped first Indian original series last week starring Saif Ali Khan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Radhika Apte.