Kaali poster row: Delhi court summons Leena Manimekalai on plea against derogatory depiction of Hindu Goddess

A Delhi Court has issued summons to Kaali director Leena Manimekalai and others after a petition was moved against the makers of the documentary film for depicting the Hindu Goddess in a derogatory light.

Times Now Digital

Updated Jul 12, 2022, 08:14 IST

Delhi court summons Leena Manimekalai

Kaali filmmaker Leena Manimekalai and others have been summoned by a Delhi court on a plea against the infamous poster of the documentary film which depicts Hindu Goddess Kaali in a derogatory light.

The plea, moved by Advocate Raj Gaurav, sought an interim injunction to restrain Kaali makers from showing the revered figure in the manner that they have shown in their poster.

In his petition, Gaurav contended that the controversial poster shows Goddess Kaali smoking cigarettes which not only hurts the religious sentiments of the Hindu community but is also against the basics of morality and decency.

He also mentioned that the derogatory poster was shared by Leena from her official Twitter account.

Issuing a summon to Leena based on the petition, the bench asked her to appear before the court on August 6. Besides the director, the district court also issued notices to her company, Touring Talkies Media Private Limited.

"The relief of interim injunction is discretionary relief. Further, as held by the Supreme Court in a number of cases the ex-parte ad-interim injunction has to be granted in exceptional circumstances and the undersigned is of the opinion that the defendant needs to be heard before passing any order against them," Justice Abhishek Kumar of Tis Hazari Court said.

Earlier, the Delhi Police lodged a case against the Canada-based filmmaker in connection with the said poster. The Cyber Crime Unit of the Delhi Police registered an FIR under Sections 153 A (promoting enmity between groups) and 295 A (outraging religious feelings) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Meanwhile, amidst the controversy, Leena took to Twitter to say that she does not feel safe ‘anywhere at this moment’.

"It feels like the whole nation - that has now deteriorated from the largest democracy to the largest hate machine - wants to censor me. I do not feel safe anywhere at this moment," she tweeted.

Further, Leena also shared a picture of a man and a woman dressed as Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati, smoking.

Latest News