Mahesh Manjrekar granted protection from arrest in obscenity case

Director Mahesh Manjrekar and the producers of Marathi film, Nay Varan Bhat Loncha Kon Nay Koncha found themselves in a controversy recently and as of now, they have been granted protection from arrest by the Bombay High Court for an obscene shot involving minors.

In the hearing held today, the court also directed the police not to take any coercive action against the director or the film's team, who had an FIR registered against them, under provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

In a statement to ETimes, Advocate Ravi Suryavanshi along with Advocate Swapnil Ambure led by Sr. Advocate Ponda said, "The Hon’ble Court has protected the director and producers of the movie 'Nay Varan Bhat Loncha Kon Nai Koncha' from arrest. Further, directions are issued to the State Police to not take any coercive action against them. We would be extending our full cooperation to the investigation." 

For the uninitiated, it was alleged that the recently released film contained sexually explicit content involving minors. However, the filmmaker's lawyer argued the film had no such scene and that the same was only part of the trailer that was eventually removed from YouTube.

Advocate Ambure added, "Court took notice of the fact that the questionable trailer was taken down and the movie released after getting the CBFC's Censor Certification."

This ruling comes a week after the court refused to grant the filmmaker of the makers of the Marathi film, any relief in the case.

Last month, Manjrekar filed a petition in the High Court seeking for the case to be quashed and sought interim protection from arrest. A division bench headed by Justice SS Shinde, however, refused to pass any order and adjourned the hearing.