Under the criminal appellate jurisdiction, a case was filed before the Supreme Court in Apoorva Arora Vs State (Gov of NTC of Delhi). The creator, script writer, casting director, actor, and the media company of College Romance are allegated and a case is filed against them for hosting a series that contains sexually explicit content. Which violates the provision under the IT Act, of 2000. The fifth episode of season 1 which is titled Happily F***** Up is under controversy. The Supreme Court in its judgment set aside the high court’s judgment and clarified that no scenes of the series can be considered obscene and violate the penal provisions.
Apoorva Arora vs State (Govt. of NTC of Delhi) Case
The complaint was made before the assistant commissioner of police against the web- series College Romance. The complaint was made under sections 294, 1860, 590 of the Indian Penal Code, 292, sections 67 and 67a of the Information Technology Act, 2000, and sections 2(c) and 3 of Indecent Representation of Women 1986. According to the said acts, episode 5 of season 1 of College Romance with the episode title happily f***** up contents of obscene language and vulgar content. But all the allegations were proved wrong after an investigation by the investigating officer.
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Case before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate
A case was registered by the additional chief metropolitan magistrate and was made under sections 292, 294, 67, and 67A of IT which stated that the episode was filled with obscene language and vulgar scenes.
Revised petition before additional session judge
The appellants filed a revised petition before additional session judges who have the authority to modify the orders of the additional chief metropolitan magistrate and FIR was registered under sections 67 and 67A of IT, 2000.
Revised petition and high court order
The appellants filed a revised petition under section 482 of CrPC, which is the inherent power of the High Court where the High Court can quash the FIR which is filed against the appellants. But the High Court dismissed the petition and ordered to file an FIR against the appellants under sections 67, and 67A.
Appellants filed an appeal before The honorable Supreme Court.
Appellants challenged the order of the High Court and filed an appeal before The honorable Supreme Court in the hope to get justice. Under the criminal Appellate jurisdiction, the appeal was filed. The issue was framed before the Supreme Court by asking whether the content of college Romance is really obscene and vulgar. As the High Court has ordered to file an FIR against the appellants under sections 67, and 67A is it right or wrong?
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Argument before the Supreme Court of India
Initially, the High Court found obscene and vulgar content in the scenes of college Romance. After considering all the aspects and arguments from both parties, the Supreme Court stated that there is no amount of obscenity Under The Law for which the directors or other crew members of College Romance have to face any consequences.
Further, the Supreme Court stated that maybe the language of college Romance could be distasteful or not appealing for some group of people but it is not necessarily made to corrupt the mind of the people of India.
The decision of the Supreme Court of Apoorva Arora vs State case
The Supreme Court set aside the judgment made by the High Court and quashed the registered FIR and all the pending applications.
The honorable court addressed that when College Romance is viewed as a whole it does not offensively carry sexuality or there is no vulgar content in the series. The Supreme Court stated that normal college life is shown in the series and no concept is obscene from the series.
Freedom of expression is safeguarded.
The judgment of the Supreme Court safeguarded the freedom of expression in India. In this generation, the way some web series or content creators are facing controversies is condemned by the Supreme Court. The Honorable Court took a stand for artists and their rights to express their views and thoughts openly through their work. Content creators are facing legal challenges and increasing scrutiny, which affect their work. The Supreme Court supported them in making diverse projects and also asked them to show societal norms through their content. The Honorable Court stated that only because of provocative language or theme the work of an artist should not be censored. If this decision was not taken by the Supreme Court there must be a question about freedom to speech in this digital age.
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Conclusion
The judgment of the Supreme Court marks the victory of the Indian judicial system. The freedom to speech in India is represented by this victory. In College Romance, there is some vulgar language present in the series but that does not come under the provision of section 67 section 67A of the IT Act, 2000. After taking this decision, the honorable Supreme Court proved that after a nuanced understanding and overall merit of the work the decision should be taken. The decision of the Supreme Court has balanced the fundamental rights of the content creators and also protected the values of the society.