Mumbai: The well-known producer Ekta Kapoor along with her mother Shobha Kapoor are accused of violating the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act due to obscene scenes of minors in an episode in the web-series Gandii Baat, Season 6. The much-watched series, earlier aired on the OTT platform called Alt Balaji, has been accused of violating many laws.
From the sources, it has been reported that the complaint was lodged against the Kapoors for some demonstrate disturbing scenes which involve minors between February and April this year. The episode for which the streaming platform has since claimed was ‘pretend’ and then removed had apparently illustrated the sexual abuse of children, which formed the basis of the case under the Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences Act or POCSO.
Complaint and Legal Violation
The complaint, lodged at Mumbai’s Borivali MHB Police Station by Mumbai’s resident, also said that the web series also insulted important historical figures and saints through an advertisement of the cigarettes which socially offended the complainant. Also, it said the violate other laws such as the Information Technology Act, IT Act, 2000, the Women Prohibition Act, WPA Act, 1986, and the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, COPRA Act, 2003.
The complaint also pointed out that series content violates POCSO guidelines and other acts and stated that the creators were negligent of the handling of the materials that involved minors.
Court’s cable interests particularly obscene materials concerning children
This case comes after a landmark court decision in the Supreme Court on the 27 September 2024 whereby the viewing, publishing or downloading of obscene material involving persons under the age of 18 years is illegal. The superior decision reversed a conclusion by the Madras High Court that such activities are perhaps not unlawful. This recent ruling has brought legal concerns back to content creators and platforms publishing material with children in obscene situations.
The court has been very strict regarding child exploitation content and this might have resulted in reviving such cases as that of filing of the FIR against Ekta Kapoor and Shobha Kapoor.
As the legal process has started the producers are likely to present their side in the next few days; this case increases the awareness of OTT platforms about the handling of genres that can cause a lot of controversy.
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