Bhopal/Khargone: An FIR was registered against two officials of Netflix in Rewa on Monday over the shooting of kissing scenes at Maheshwar. Khargone collector Anugraha P, however, said no action was needed as that portion of the web series wasn’t shot in a temple.

Madhya Pradesh home minister Narottam Mishra, who had ordered an ‘examination’ of the scenes, on Monday said: “It has been found that ‘A Suitable Boy’ hurts the religious sentiments of a community. So, an FIR will be registered under IPC section 295A against Netflix office-bearers Monika Shergill and Ambika Khurana.”

The IPC charge carries up to three years’ imprisonment for ‘deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religious beliefs’. It’s a cognizable, non-bailable offence, which means police can arrest without a warrant. Shergill is VP (content) and Khurana is director-public policies for Netflix.

TIMES VIEW: “Hurting religious sentiment” is a catch-all expression that can encompass anything. In any modern society, certain broad principles of creative freedom must be agreed upon. Art should be protected from such frivolous onslaughts. Otherwise it will be difficult to create anything without offending someone or the other.