New Delhi: The Gujarat high court has stayed the release of the movie Maharaj, which features Junaid Khan, the son of actor Aamir Khan.
The ad-interim order was issued by Justice Sangeetha K Vishen on Thursday, a day before the movie was set to be released on Netflix, reported LiveLaw.
The court has also issued notices to Yashraj Films, Netflix India and other parties involved in the case.
“Considered the submissions. Issue notice to the respondents, returnable on 18.06.2024. Ad-interim relief is granted in terms of paragraph 11(C), till the next date of hearing,” directed Justice Vishen directed on Thursday.
The court order came in the response of a plea filed by devotees of Lord Krishna and members of Pushtimarg sect. The petitioners argued that the movie could disrupt public order and also incite violence against the sect.
The petitioners claimed that Maharaj is allegedly based on the Libel case of 1862, wherein several allegedly blasphemous remarks against Lord Krishna, Hinduism were included. The case was decided by English judges of the Supreme Court of Bombay.
Notably, Maharaj is based on a novel written by right-wing commentator Saurabh Shah. Shah routinely shares and reposts other right-wing accounts and their content about Hindutva on social media. After the court’s directions on Thursday, Shah in a post on X appealed to the public to first watch the movie and then give their opinion, also adding that the movie is ‘not against Sanatan or the Vaishnav community.’
Shah also found support from other right-wing accounts on X.
One of the arguments put forward by the petitioners was that the movie was being released ‘secretively’ without any promotional events or trailer to hide its controversial storyline, reported LiveLaw.
The movie was set to be released on Netflix on Friday, June 14.
The petitioners argued that once the movie was released on an OTT platform, it would be impossible to rectify the ‘damage’ caused by it.
The matter will be heard again on June 18.
