Acting on Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s directives, Lucknow Police has registered an FIR against the director of the upcoming film ‘Ghooskhor Pandat’, whose teaser has been released recently and is being promoted on the OTT platform Netflix.The action has been taken on the charges of spreading social animosity, hurting religious and caste sentiments and attempting to disrupt public peace, the UP government said in a statement on Friday.The case was registered at the Hazratganj police station late on Thursday night, the police said.SHO of Hazratganj Vikram Singh took cognisance of the film as well as its content being shared on social media. According to him, the title ‘Ghooskhor Pandat’ and its promotional material were found to be objectionable at first glance.The FIR states that the film’s title appears to have been deliberately chosen to target and demean a particular community or caste (Brahmin). The title and the dialogues promoted on Netflix and social media have evoked strong reactions from various sections of society.Several organisations have warned of aggressive protests against it. This has heightened concerns about the potential impact on public peace and law and order. Considering the sensitivity of the situation, the police took immediate action, the statement said.According to the police, at first glance it appears that the director and his team promoted the film with the intention of spreading social animosity, disturbing public peace and disrupting harmony. In view of these facts, the FIR was registered against the film’s director and his team under relevant sections.The case has been registered under sections 196 (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc, and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony), 299 (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs), 352 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) and 353 (statements conducing to public mischief) of the BNS and under provisions of the IT Act, the police said.


