Delhi High Court refuses interim stay on streaming of Hasmukh on Netflix
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The very essence of democracy is that a creative artist be given the liberty to project the picture of the society in a manner he perceives, the court order read.
The Delhi high court on Tuesday refused to grant interim stay on streaming of web series 'Hasmukh' on Netflix.
In its order, the court ruled, “...if an ad interim injunction is granted, it would amount to interference in the freedom of speech and expression guaranteed by our Constitution to the defendants.”
The very essence of democracy is that a creative artist be given the liberty to project the picture of the society in a manner he perceives, the court added.
“One of the prime forms of exposing the ills of the society is by portraying a satirical picture of the same. Stand-up comedians perform that very purpose... In the humorous portrayal of the ills of the society the stand-up comedians use satire," the order concluded.
This had started when a plaintiff moved the court to restrain Netflix from further airing or streaming of the episodes of web series 'Hasmukh', particularly Episode 4 of Season 1 that allegedly contained derogatory remarks against the entire legal fraternity.
Meanwhile, Netflix’s counsel argued that lawyers cannot be defamed as a “class of persons", nor can the plaintiff be defamed by a general reference to lawyers.