Ahmedabad: The Gujarat High Court on Thursday restrained OTT platform Netflix from releasing the movie “Maharaj” which features Junaid Khan, the son of Bollywood star Aamir Khan, based on objections raised by members of a religious sect called Pushtimarg. The film was to be released on Friday.

Eight members of the Pushtimarg sect, who are devotees of Lord Krishna and followers of Vallabhacharya, approached the HC alleging that the film is apparently based on the famous Maharaj Libel Case of 1862, and is likely to affect public order and incite violence against followers of the sect and the Hindu religion.

The petitioners contended that the Maharaj Libel Case, which was decided by a court during the British era, castigates the Hindu religion and makes seriously blasphemous comments against God and devotional songs and hymns.

Their senior counsel submitted that reference has been made to excerpts from the court’s judgment that contain scandalous and defamatory language, which affects the Pushtimarg sect as a whole. The possibility of inciting violence itself is in breach of the ethics and codes governing the release of such visual content.

It was also submitted that considering the reach of an OTT platform such as Netflix throughout the world, it would be impossible to rectify the image of the sect once tarnished by the film. Its release would cause an irreversible situation, whereas a stay on the release will only result in small financial losses.

The lawyer also argued requests were made by the petitioners and other groups to the authorities, filmmakers and OTT platform, but they did not get any response from the authorities or the OTT platform, whereas the filmmakers gave them a cryptic reply.

The producer of the film, Yash Raj Films Pvt Ltd, maintains secrecy over the content and this itself is a reason to draw an adverse inference.

On the argument that the movie is likely to hurt religious sentiments, Justice Sangeeta Vishen stayed Netflix from releasing the movie on Friday. The HC issued notice to the authorities concerned, the film production company and Netflix, and posted the next hearing for June 18.

The Maharaj Libel Case was a trial in a Bombay court against journalists Karshandas Mulji and Nanabhai Rustomji Ranina after they were sued for defamation for public accusations that religious leaders of the Pushtimarg sect had sexual liaisons with women devotees. The court ruled in favour of the journalists.