Supreme Court Permits Withdrawal Of Plea Seeking Regulation Of Inappropriate Content On OTT Platforms, Asks Litigant To First Approach Govt

The Supreme Court today permitted withdrawal of a plea seeking regulation of inappropriate content on over-the-top (OTT) platforms, while granting liberty to the petitioner to make a representation to the Union of India.

The Bench of Justices BR Gavai and Sandeep Mehta passed the order on the petition filed in public interest, challenging the publication of inappropriate content on OTT platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc.

During the hearing, the petitioner's counsel submitted that the petition raised "the pinching question" as to "whether these OTT platforms should be allowed to publish content which is not appropriate for all ages without any restriction?"

The counsel alleged that some movies on the OTT platforms involve pure nudism, yet anybody can watch the movies freely.

When Justice Mehta asked "You want some direction of viewer control by this court?", the counsel replied in the affirmative.

Justice Gavai however suggested that the petitioner first make a representation to the government. Agreeing, the counsel sought permission to make appropriate representation and come back.

Taking into account the above, the bench permitted withdrawal of the petition, with liberty to the petitioner to approach Union of India with a representation over the grievance raised. The representation, as and when moved, shall be decided in accordance with law.

"Rejection of the representation would not come in the way of the petitioner in approaching this Court again," the court clarified.

Before parting with the matter, Justice Mehta remarked that the petitioner's grievance seemed to be regarding one particular movie. The counsel conceded that that may seem to be the case from the petition, but what was being pressed was the grievance pertaining to general publication of nudism on OTT platforms. 

Case Title: Shri Kant Bhati v. Union of India and Anr., W.P.(C) No. 33/2024

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