New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed the criminal proceedings pending in Maharashtra and Telangana against Kerala actress Priya Varrier for the Malayalam song in the movie Oru Adaar Love on the ground that it hurts the religious sentiments of Muslims.
A Bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and justices A.M. Khanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud, after hearing counsel Harris Beeran, also stayed similar criminal proceedings against movie’s director N.P. Abdul Wahab and producer and Joseph Eapen.
Besides staying the existing criminal proceedings, the bench also restrained all state governments from registering any further FIRs against the actress and the director with regard to the video.
It issued notice to the Telangana government and others on a petition from 18-year-old Varrier, who shot to fame after her ‘wink video’ went viral.
Ms Varrier, a B.Com student from a college in Kerala’s Thrissur district, sought protection from an FIR lodged on complaints alleging that the lyrics of the song Manikya Malaraya Poovi... from the movie was “offensive” and had “violated the religious sentiment of a particular community”.
The actress had moved the apex court seeking quashing of the FIR lodged against her in Telangana.
