SC Refuses To Stay OTT Release Of ‘Why I Killed Gandhi’

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a writ petition seeking stay on the release of the film Why I Killed Gandhi on over the top (OTT) platform Limelight and asked the petitioner to approach the concerned High Court on the issue.

Granting liberty to the petitioner to move the High Court, a bench of Justices Indira Banerjee and JK Maheshwari observed that a writ petition under Article 32 may only be filed when there is a question of violation of fundamental right. “There is no fundamental right of the petitioner which appears to have been violated. Thus this plea cannot be entertained. However, it appears that the petitioner is a citizen may have a serious cause of concern here. Petitioner is at liberty to approach the High court under Article 226,” the court said.

Seeking removal of all contents of the controversial film from all online platforms, petitioner Sikandar Behl, through advocate Anuj Bhandari, also sought the prohibition of any exhibition or publication of Why I Killed Gandhi or any of its contents in any manner whatsoever on any OTT platform or social media. If the release and exhibition of the said movie is not stopped, it would irreparably tarnish the image of the Father of the Nation and would cause public unrest, hatred and disharmony, the plea read.