‘Polluting The Minds Of Youth'; Supreme Court Rebukes Ekta Kapoor Over Objectionable Content

The Supreme Court reprimanded film and television producer Ekta Kapoor for showing "objectionable content" in her web series XXX and said she was "polluting the minds of the young generation of this country." The Supreme Court ordered Ekta not to file any more such petitions, or she will have to pay a fee if she does so in the future.

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According to a report by PTI, the top court was hearing Ekta Kapoor's plea that challenged the arrest warrants issued against her for insulting soldiers and hurting the sentiments of their families in the web series that streams on the filmmaker's OTT platform, ALTBalaji.

The warrant was issued by a trial court in Begusarai, Bihar, in response to a complaint submitted by an ex-serviceman named Shambhu Kumar in 2020, in which he alleged that the second season of the show XXX contained multiple objectionable scenes involving a soldier's wife.

A bench comprising Justices Ajay Rastogi and CT Ravikumar said, "Something has to be done. You are polluting the minds of the young generation of this country. It is available to all. OTT (Over The Top) content is available to all. What kind of choice are you providing to the people?....on the contrary you are polluting the minds of youngsters."

Senior advocate Mukul Rohtagi, who appeared for Ekta Kapoor, had submitted that "a petition has been filed before the Patna high court but there is no hope the matter will be listed for hearing soon," PTI reported.

Mr Rohtagi then added that the filmmaker had been granted protection earlier by the top court in a similar case. Further, he told the court that the content is subscription-based and that there is freedom of choice in this country."

The court's proceedings were stopped for a short period, but Ekta was warned, saying, "Everytime you travel to this court....we don't appreciate this. We will put a cost on you for filing such a petition. Mr Rohatgi please convey this to your client. Just because you can afford and hire the services of good lawyers....this court is not for those who have voices."

Meanwhile, observing what kind of choices are being made available to the people, the bench remarked, "This court works for those who don't have voices...if these people who have all kinds of facilities, if they cannot get justice then think of the situation of this common man. We have seen the order and we have our reservations."

The plea, as of now, has been kept pending. The next hearing will be known soon, while the court has advised assigning a local attorney to monitor the progress of the Patna high court case's hearing.