Delhi High Court on Friday has rejected the petition of fugitive diamantaire Mehul Chokshi seeking pre-release screening of the upcoming Netflix docu-series ‘Bad Boy Billionaires’. He is the uncle of fugitive Nirav Modi and is also an accused in the USD 2 billion PNB scam.
Single judge bench presided by Justice Navin Chawla observed that a writ petition for enforcement of a private right cannot be maintainable. The court stated that it is a civil suit and gave liberty to the petitioner to approach appropriate body for the civil suit.
“The remedy of the petitioner would be in a civil suit as what is being alleged by the petitioner is an infringement of his private right. In view of the abuse submissions, the present petition is dismissed leaving it open to the petitioner to seek appropriate legal remedy,” stated Justice Chawla.
Delhi High Court has asked Netflix regarding providing pre-release screening of its upcoming docu-series, Bad Boy Billionaires which Netflix has refused to.
Advocate Vijay Aggarwal appearing for Mehul Chokshi argued that it would be prejudicial for the trial of Chokshi if the documentary was released. He further added, “Netflix needs to telecast content that is compliant with the Indian laws. They have to abide by the Indian Constitution.”
Aggarwal also said, “The petitioner is entitled in terms of Indian law, that is, Article 21 of the Constitution of India to a presumption of innocence and a free and fair trial.”
Senior advocate Neeraj Kishan Kaul, representing Netflix stated that there is no reference at all to any trial in the series. He contended, “Maximum two minutes is shown in the show. These are matters that are in the public domain. If these kinds of pleas are started to be accepted then it would be dangerous. We can’t start showing previews for these offenders.”
Also, Senior advocate Dayan Krishnan, commented that he is a fugitive. He also said that he should not get access to any kind of legal relief in India as he had acquired the citizenship of other country and is trying to invoke extraordinary jurisdiction.
Bad Boy Billionaires is a Netflix documentary series which is scheduled to be released on September 10. “This investigative docuseries explores the greed, fraud and corruption that built up – and ultimately brought down – India’s most infamous tycoons,” said the over the top (OTT) platform.
