(Image source from: Hindustan Times)
The Delhi High Court suspended the case on Thursday to give judges and plaintiffs time to study the petition filed by Nikhil Bhalla, an attorney and an adherent of the opposition Congress party, which Rajiv Gandhi ran for seven years up until his slaying in 1991.
The series, Sacred Games, is a whodunnit set in Mumbai with a cast of police officers, detectives, and politicians. It debuted this month in the first of a series of new shows intended at the Indian market.
In one scene, Gandhi is referred to as a "fattu", a Hindi slang term for a weakling.
A videotape of Gritty bulletin demonstrations him shaking hands with world leaders, whereas a voice-over indicts him of appeasing Muslim groups in a case concerning divorce rights for Muslim women.
"The show 'Sacred Games' has inappropriate dialogues, political attacks, and even speeches, which are derogatory in nature and harms the reputation of the former Prime Minister Shri Rajiv Gandhi," the petition said.
Gandhi became prime minister after his mother Indira Gandhi was assassinated in 1984. After a period of five years, he lost authority in 1991, still holding the post of Congress party president, was slain by an ethnic Tamil suicide bomber.
His son, Rahul Gandhi, is the current party president.
The court of law received an appeal to order Netflix to erase derogatory comments made directly or indirectly against Rajiv Gandhi or his kin.
"We cannot afford to, in the name of freedom of speech allow anything to be beamed in every home without regard to its impact on society," the petition said.
Vikram Chandra's 2006 novel based series, has earnt critical admiration for its courageous depiction of Mumbai’s criminal act and politics.
Amazon.com owned Netflix and its streaming rival Prime Video are scrambling to enhance local content in a bid to persuade Indian audiences at home and out of the country.
Nonetheless flicks and television shows at times run afoul of Indian spectators and conservative groups.
India does not censor content on the Internet, but cinemas and television are both profoundly censored.
By Sowmya Sangam
