The Bombay High Court on February 21 advised the streaming service, Netflix, to first screen the docuseries titled, ‘The Indrani Mukerjea Story: Buried Truth’ for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) before airing it for the public on the platform. The order came after CBI sought a stay on the streaming of the series scheduled for release earlier on February 23. The agency’s concern in the plea is due to the ongoing trial in the Sheena Bora murder case that the agency earlier failed to obtain a stay from the trial court.
The docu-series, said to be controversial ones, revolve around Indrani Mukerjea, the main accused in the murder case.
Justice Revati Mohite Dere and Justice Manjusha Deshpande in their order suggested Netflix to organise a special screening for CBI officials and lawyers, for them to preview the series. The next hearing on the matter is scheduled for next Thursday, February 29.
Senior Advocate Ravi Kadam on behalf of Netflix had concerns over potential pre-censorship over the pre-screening of the docuseries and argued that the CBI should have approached the court earlier and not right before the announced streaming date.
Also read | Trailer of Netflix’s ‘The Indrani Mukerjea Story: Buried Truth’ out
On this, the court said that the trial was still on, “Why should the CBI not be allowed to watch the series? She (Indrani Mukerjea) is an accused. The series is her depiction of what happened. One of the bail conditions is not to tamper with evidence. When you sort of interview people in support of your case, we ask you, before we hear you, why cannot the CBI watch the series? What is the difficulty in sharing the docuseries? The release can be deferred for a week. Heavens are not going to fall. They should be allowed to view it. The release can be postponed by a week without dire consequences. If you’re unable to provide instructions and make a statement, we will issue this order.”
Mr. Kadam eventually accepted the court’s suggestion and agreed that the streaming platform will not air the show until the next hearing.
Advocate Shreeram Shirsat, representing the CBI stressed that the series has clips of interviews with the accused as well as the witnesses in the case. Since only the trailer was shown to the CBI, they are unaware of the number of witnesses featured in the series. On this argument, the court asked Netflix to present the exact number of witnesses featured in the series.
Netflix advocate, Mr. Kadam informed the court that five witnesses, including Indrani Mukerjea’s son, Mikhail Mukerjea and Vidhie Mukerjea, her daughter from her second husband Peter Mukerjea, were interviewed in the series.
The series was set to air on February 23 and the next release date will be decided after the next hearing.
