Obscenity Case: HC Grants Mahesh Manjrekar Protection From Arrest

A case has been filed against Manjrekar related to showing obscene scenes involving minors in a Marathi movie.

A case has been filed against Mahesh Manjrekar.

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The Bombay High Court, on Tuesday, granted filmmaker Mahesh Manjrekar and the producers of the Marathi film Nay Varan Bhat Loncha Kon Nay Koncha protection from arrest in a case related to showing obscene scenes involving minors in the movie, as per a report by The Times of India.

The court also directed the police not to take any coercive action against the director or the film's team.

The ruling comes a week after the High Court refused to grant protection from arrest or coercive action to Manjrekar.

Some time back, the Mumbai police had filed an FIR against Manjrekar and other makers of the film under sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

Manjrekar had also filed a petition in the High Court seeking for the case to be quashed. He had also sought interim protection from arrest.

The filmmaker's lawyer Shirish Gupte had argued, "Nothing has really happened to the boys in the movie. The scenes shown in the trailer were never part of the film. And the trailer was removed from YouTube".

Assistant public prosecutors Madhvi Mhatre and Sangeeta Shinde had opposed the petition saying, “There are serious allegations against the accused under the POCSO Act.” To which the bench had replied, “We cannot give a blanket protection.”