A Bengaluru court restrains screening of 'Veerappan: Hunger for Killing' web series

The 4th Additional City Civil and Sessions Court here has granted temporary injunction restraining the screening of a web series on the life of M Veerappan following an appeal by V Muthulakshmi, the wife of the "forest brigand".

In her petition, Muthulakshmi sought a permanent injunction against the exhibiting or screening of 'Veerappan: Hunger for Killing' web series on any platform or social media by AMR Pictures represented by A M R Ramesh, who directed ‘Attahasa’, a 2013 movie.

Advocate for the petitioner H V Praveen Gowda cited the Delhi High Court judgement in Phoolan Devi case and Madras High Court judgement in K Ganesan Vs Film certification Appellate Tribunal and others to argue that the right of the privacy of the party has to be upheld.

The affidavit stated that the web series portrayed the life of Veerappan "as a villain based on false and fabricated story and it will result in the violation of right of privacy and infringement on private life".

The counsel argued that airing the movie will injure the right to life, liberty and dignity of the plaintiff and her family members. It was also stated that the releasing of the film would amount to violation of the privacy of the plaintiff.

The court noticed that issuance of notice will defeat the purpose of protecting privacy. "The plaintiff will be put to ardship if temporary injunction is not granted," it said, ordering the injunction till the next date of hearing.