AIB Row: Mumbai court orders FIR against AIB, Karan Johar

 

Mumbai: In continuing trouble for theorganisers and participants of the AIB Knockout show which raised the hackles of moral brigade, a court here has ordered police to register a first information report (FIR).

 

The event, staged in Mumbai in December, was attended by 4,000 people and the audience included Johar's mother, Sonakshi Sinha, Alia Bhatt and Deepika Padukone among others. The FIR has already been filed in Pune, while Maharashtra 

government has announced an inquiry.  

 

"The complaint be sent to the police station concerned for investigation and report," said additional magistrate C S Baviskar yesterday, in response to an application by activist Santosh Daundkar who alleged that the participants used "vulgar, obscene and pornographic" language before an audience which had a large number of women.

 

Daundar's lawyer Aabha Singh said that the video of the show was also uploaded online and on social media. The complaint also objected to the venue being used for entertainment show, in breach of Coastal Regulation Zone rules.

 

"The place was designated primarily for sports activities but... a commercial, vulgar, obscene and pornographic show comprising several Bollywood personalities was held at the SVP stadium at National Sports Club of India in Worli in South Mumbai on January 20," it said.

 

The complaint named Jayantilal Shah, president of NSCI; Ravinder Agrawal, secretary of NSCI; Bollywood celebrities Karan Johar, Ranvir Singh, Arjun Kapoor, Deepika Padukone and Alia Bhat, among others.

 

Daundkar sought registration of FIR under sections 294 (obscenity) and 509 (word, gesture, act intended to insult modesty of woman) of Indian Penal Code, as well as under the Bombay Police Act, the Environment Act and the Information Technology Act. On Monday, the Bombay High Court had directed the government and I&B ministry to respond to a petition seeking action against organisers.

 

The show was a comic 'roast', also called insult comedy, a format borrowed from the US. It attracted over four million views in less than four days on YouTube. It must be noted that The show has received both positive and negative comments from all over the Bollywood fraternity and by people on social networking sites except Aamir Khan, who openly spoke against it.