Richa Chadha recently took to social media to make a remark on the Supreme Court’s refusal to grant relief to the makers and actors of controversial Amazon series Tandav over criminal cases lodged against them in multiple states. 

On Wednesday, the apex court turned down their petition requesting interim protection from arrest, citing “right to freedom of speech is not absolute”.

Sharing a tweet on the Supreme Court’s decision, Richa wrote, “Priorities of the apex court!” For those of you living under a rock, Tandav is surrounded by controversies for allegedly showing Hindu deities in poor light. Though the contentious scenes have now been removed, several political leaders have demanded strict action against the makers.

Priorities of the apex court ! https://t.co/nJNH6tn6oO

— TheRichaChadha (@RichaChadha) January 28, 2021

Multiple FIRs against the series’ director Ali Abbas Zafar, producer, writer, actors and Amazon India Originals’ head Aparna Purohit, have been filed in six states. The makers of the web series are facing criminal cases for hurting religious sentiments and insulting religion, punishable under sections 153A and 295 of the Indian Penal Code.

Gauahar Khan, who plays Maithili in Tandav, recently expressed astonishment at the Supreme Court’s decision. When Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub’s lawyer contended that he was just an actor under contract, the bench observed, “You accepted the contract after reading the script. You cannot hurt religious sentiments.”

When a Twitter user remarked that actors playing murderers on screen might be tried for the crime next, Gauahar retweeted it along with three ‘face with monocle’ emojis.

Here’s how people gave mixed reactions on Twitter to Richa’s comment:

The Supreme court has become BJP's headquarter.

They can give protection only to Kangna Ranaut.

— Manoj Meghwal (@Boxer_ji) January 28, 2021

Abhi our jalil hona hai tumhe...#UrbanNaxals

— Aksh9249 (@aksh9249) January 28, 2021

Everyone is glued to their small screens,so with them I guess

— arvind bhanumurthy (@ariputtar) January 28, 2021

Used to feel that at least judiciary is beyond politics and sane. Are these institutions still intact and objective ?

— SK (@ihskas) January 28, 2021

Real Tandav here

— SIMA (@seemaadhikari) January 28, 2021

It is important to safeguard India's rich culture and heritage and the SC understands that. #BanTandavNow #arrestteamtandav

— Universal Peace (@UniversalPeace0) January 28, 2021

Ali earlier issued an unconditional apology on behalf of the team, maintaining that they did not intend to hurt any sentiments. He later issued another statement, in which he said that the makers decided to ‘implement changes’ to Tandav after concerns were raised. The contentious scenes were later altered.

Tandav features Saif Ali Khan, Dimple Kapadia, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Sunil Grover, Kritika Kamra, Sarah Jane Dias, Kumud Mishra, Dino Morea and Amyra Dastur in main roles, among others.

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