Bombay HC Clears TV Executives of 12-Year-Old FIR Responsibility

The Bombay High Court dismissed a longstanding FIR against media executives and programming heads of a Marathi TV channel, determining they were uninvolved in an allegedly objectionable dialogue in a serial. The verdict noted procedural oversights in the original complaint related to the Scheduled Caste Atrocities Act.

In a significant legal development, the Bombay High Court has annulled a 12-year-old First Information Report (FIR) against several programming heads and media executives of a Marathi television channel. The FIR was linked to an allegedly offensive dialogue in the popular serial 'Laxmi versus Saraswati'.

The controversy arose from a 2012 episode of the serial, which contained language perceived as derogatory to the Scheduled Caste community. Initially filed by Rahul Gaikwad in Thane district, the case faced scrutiny due to insufficient evidence linking the accused to the content creation process.

Justices Manish Pitale and Manjusha Deshpande underscored the need for strict compliance with the procedural requirements under the Atrocities Act. They emphasized that criminal prosecution mandates clarity on whether the accused are not members of Scheduled Castes or Tribes, a detail absent from the FIR.

(With inputs from agencies.)