Delhi High Court Refuses To Stay Netflix Release Of 'Tribhuvan Mishra CA Topper' Show On ICAI's Plea

The Delhi High Court has recently refused to stay the release of “Tribhuvan Mishra CA Topper” show on OTT platform Netflix.

In an order passed on July 16, Justice Navin Chawla saw trailer of the show and observed that it did not refer to the profession of Chartered Accountancy in any manner.

“It is a series which appears to be more in the genre of comedy, and merely describes the main character as a topper in Chartered Accountancy Examination,” the court said.

Justice Chawla was dealing with a suit filed by Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) and three Chartered Accountants against release of the series' trailer on July 10. The show started streaming on July 18.

It was their case that the trailer showed Chartered Accountancy profession in an extremely vulgar and derogatory sense. They further said that ICAI received emails objecting to the alleged scandalous content of the trailer containing “unwarranted innuendos to the profession.”

The counsel appearing for Netflix submitted that the web series is completely fictional in nature and that there is a disclaimer at the start of the show proclaiming that the series has no reference to any individual or any real person dead or alive.

He submitted that without prejudice to rights and contentions of Netflix, the OTT platform will add a disclaimer that reference is not made to any profession in the show.

Issuing notice in the application seeking ad interim injunction, the court observed observed that the trailer was neither intended nor can be perceived to be derogatory to the profession of Chartered Accountancy or the toppers or rank holders in the examination conducted by ICAI.

“The artistic expression, even in form of a commercial speech, cannot be curtailed on basis of an oversensitive approach,” the court said.

“I, therefore, do not find any prima facie case in favour of the plaintiffs for grant of an ad interim injunction in their favour at this stage,” it added.

Counsel for Plaintiffs: Mr.Amarjit Singh Chandhiok, Sr. Adv. with Ms.Pooja M. Saigal, Mr.Yatin Dua, Ms.Kaveri Rawal and Ms.Deepti Bhardwaj, Advs

Counsel for Defendants: Mr.Sandeep Sethi, Sr. Adv. with Mr.Saikrishna Rajagopal, Mr.Thomas George, Ms.Sneha Jain, Ms.Tanvi Sinha, Mr.Devvrat Joshi, Mr.Angad S. Makkar and Mr.Navankur Pathak, Advs. for D-1; Mr.Hiren Kamod, Ms.Shrishti Talukdar, Ms.Ami Desai, Ms.Surekha, Ms.Riddhi and Ms.Prashansa Singh, Advs. for D-5 to D-9; Mr.Sachin Gupta, Mr.Ajay Kumar, Mr.Rohit Pradhan and Mr.Manan Mondal, Advs. for D-10 to D-12

Title: THE INSTITUTE OF CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS OF INDIA & ORS v. NETFLIX ENTERTAINMENT SERVICES INDIA LLP & ORS.

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Del) 833

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