Delhi High Court refuses to stop streaming of Netflix documentary To Kill a Tiger

The Delhi High Court on Thursday refused to pass any ad interim order to stop the streaming of a documentary titled “To Kill a Tiger” on Netflix for allegedly revealing the identity of a minor gang-rape victim [Tulir Charitable Trust v Union of India & Ors]..A Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela rejected the plea for interim relief noting that the documentary has been streaming since March 10.“Accordingly, this court is of the view that no ad interim order is warranted at this stage,” the Court said.The Court issued notice to the Central government, Netflix and the documentary’s director Nisha Pahuja directed them to file their replies in four weeks..To Kill a Tiger depicts the fight by a family from Jharkhand to get justice for their 13-year-old daughter who is the victim of gang-rape.The Court was dealing with a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by an organisation named Tulir Charitable Trust, which argued that by revealing the identity of the minor rape victim, the documentary may have violated the provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act).It was argued that the documentary was shot when the victim was a minor and that she was made to undergo filming for thousands of hours.The counsel appearing for the petitioner organisation stated that the victim was made to repeat her ordeal many times and she has even been portrayed in school uniform, which yet again, violates the POCSO ActThe counsel added that the documentary was released on March 10 because it was the date for Oscar nominations and that the documentary has been made to pander to an international audience..Meanwhile, the counsel appearing for Netflix stated that the documentary was released in Canada in the year 2022 and that it captures the journey of the victim's family.Netflix said that at the time of filming - when the victim was a minor - her family’s consent was taken. It added that the publication of such content is legally precluded only during the minority of the child.“Once she attains majority, she has the authority to talk about what happened to her if she so chooses. The Sections are very clear, the preclusion is only so long as the child is minor. If the preclusion is read to be otherwise, it will have serious consequences and violate Article 19(1) of the Constitution,” the streaming platform's counsel said.