‘Kaali’ Poster Row: SC Protects Filmmaker Leena Manimekalai From Arrest

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday protected filmmaker Leena Manimekalai from arrest and other coercive processes in connection with multiple criminal cases lodged against her over a poster of her documentary film titled Kaali.

In this regard, the SC has issued notices to the states of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh for clubbing of the FIRs pending against Leena Manimekalai at one place.

The reprieve from a bench headed by Chief Justice of India Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud came even as Manimekalai recorded her statement in the court that she did not intend to hurt religious sentiments of anyone and that the depiction of the Goddess was to show her in an “inclusive sense”.

The bench, which also included justice PS Narasimha, took the filmmaker’s statement on record and directed that she will not be subjected to any coercive process, including arrest in the wake of the first information reports (FIRs) registered against her over the poster.

“List the petition on February 20, 2023. In the meantime no coercive steps shall be taken against petitioner either on basis of the FIRs as noted above or pursuant to any other FIR which may have been or will be lodged in relation to the same offence,” stated the court order.

The Madurai-born filmmaker shared the poster of ‘Kaali’ on the microblogging website, Twitter, in July 2022.