Court stays release of Netflix film ‘Maharaj’

The Gujarat High Court temporarily stayed the release of the Netflix film Maharaj.

The movie, starring Aamir Khan’s son Junaid in his debut role, was set to stream on Netflix from June 14.

It is based on the case of Maharaj Libel in the colonial era 1862.

On Thursday, the Gujarat High Court temporarily stopped releasing the Netflix film Maharaj.

The movie, starring Aamir Khan’s son Junaid in his debut role, was set to stream on Netflix from June 14. It is based on the case of Maharaj Libel in the colonial era 1862.

As per reports, a petition was filed against the film’s release by members of the Vaishnavite Pustimargi sect, who identify themselves as devotees of Bhagwan Shree Krishna.

The petitioners claimed that the film, based on the historic Maharaj libel case, is likely to incite feelings of ‘hatred and violence’ against the Pustimargi sect, amounting to a breach of the code of ethics under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 and the Self-regulation Code of Over the Top Technology (OTT).

The petitioners also submitted that they were denied a request for a screening by the makers nor provided clarifications about the film’s content.

The 1862 libel case centered on a clash between a Vaishnavite religious leader and the social reformer Karsandas Mulji.

Karsandas, in an article in Satyaprakash, a Gujarati weekly circulated in Bombay, had exposed the godman’s sexual liaisons with his female devotees, thus drawing a defamation charge.

Two British judges of the Supreme Court of Bombay dismissed the libel suit.