Top B-town actors alongwith top officials of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) were issued notice by the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Wednesday for participating in an alleged obscene stage performance at the inaugural of Indian Premier League (IPL)-V in Chennai on April 3, seeking registration of a criminal case against them .
Justice A. Selvam passed the order in the petition filed by a Madurai lawyer K. Jebakumar (32), through his counsel W. Peter Ramesh Kumar, and adjourned the hearing to July 31. The people to whom notices had been ordered included BCCI president N. Srinivasan, IPL governing council chairman Rajiv Shukla, American pop singer Katy Perry, Australian cricketer Douglas Erwin Bollinger and actress Priyanka Chopra, Amitabh Bachchan.
The lawyer filed a similar petition immediately after the inaugural function and it was disposed of by Mr. Justice Selvam on April 20 with a direction to the Director-General of Police to take appropriate action. Claiming that the court direction was not implemented, he filed the present petition, seeking a positive direction to the police to register a case on the basis of a complaint lodged by him.
According to the petitioner, the police were turning a blind eye to “cultural vandalism in the name of western celebrative practices” during occasions such as the IPL inaugural, though the High Court on many occasions disapproved of the practice of organising even dance dramas during village temple festivals on the ground of obscenity.
He alleged the performance on the YMCA grounds in Teynampet on the day of the IPL inaugural would attract the provisions of the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act 1986, Young Persons (Harmful Publications) Act 1956 and other such legislation. “The live display on stage was uncensored, indecent, denigrating men and women, obscene and lascivious and appealing to prurient interest,” he added.
Sheer nonsense. In the first place why did the authorities permit an IPL inaugural on YMCA grounds, IF the HC had already disapproved organizing dance dramas at the said grounds. This is not the first time when such an inaugural function has been held by IPL. Its high time that Our Judiciary gave more importance in disposing off pending cases, rather than give importance to people with vested interests.