On Friday, Actor- Director Mahesh Manjrekar filed a petition in the High Court, requesting that the POCSO case be quashed and asked for interim protection from arrest. Manjrekar is currently facing charges of showing obscene sequences involving children in his latest Marathi film.
However, the Bombay High Court has refused to grant the filmmaker any protection from arrest or coercion. A division bench led by Justice S S Shinde refused to issue any orders and adjourned the hearing on the petition until February 28.
Although, Shirish Gupte lawyer of Majrekar advocated that POCSO is made to save children’s minds and bodies and nothing in the film violates anything. He said “In the film, nothing has really happened to the boys. It is just a creation of art. The scenes shown in the trailer were never part of the film. And the trailer was removed from YouTube.” (reported by Outlook)
Manjrekar is currently facing charges under IPC Sections 292, 34, POCSO Section 14, and IT Act Sections 67, 67B. The case was registered by Mahim Police after the complaint of Seema Deshpande, president of Bharatiya Stree Shakti (NGO), against the film- Nay Varan Bhat Loncha Kon Nay Koncha.
