This article is written by Vaishnavi Shukla, a student of Bangalore Institute of Legal Studies
The AIB (All India Bakchod) controversy is what the whole nation is discussing about. As we all know AIB is India’s edgiest comedy collective, featuring co-founders Tanmay Bhat and Gursimran Khamba along with fellow comedians Rohan Joshi and Ashish Shakya. The Roasting of stars which went viral is a comedic art form that originated in 1949 in New York and has been adapted across the world since.
An insight into the story
On December 20th the AIB knockout roast of Ranveer Singh and Arjun Kapoor was organized in south Mumbai and on 28th January 2015 the video was uploaded on You Tube. On 2nd February 2015, Akhilesh Tiwari the president of Brahman Ekta Sanstha in Mumbai filed a written complaint at Sakinaka police station for the usage of filthy and abusive language in the AIB Knockout. Police initiated an inquiry into the complaint against the participants who were from Bollywood, namely, film-maker Karan Johar, actor Arjun Kapoor and Ranveer Singh. An enquiry was also ordered against the event organizers and participants, by the Maharashtra Government.
Read on to know why the government has ordered a probe into the ‘roast’ that had the internet in splits. Along with it, we will discuss the two sides of the coin, being, opinions of people supporting it and people resenting against it. The legality of the whole AIB issue is a major concern i.e. whether they were right to organize a programme like that or not, will also be a part of the article.
Offensive or Comic? People’s take on it
People from Film fraternity, politics and the public have strongly come up with their personal opinion or say in this issue. Some consider it nasty, filthy and offensive and to some it is nothing but just a piece of joke which needs to be taken in a lighter sense. Politically, it has become a major issue because of the usage of filthy and offensive language, but the film industry has come out in full support for the AIB, and not to forget the public, specifically the younger audience, which has offered its support and considers it funny and non-offensive.
The Viral Fever (TVF), an internet parallel of the AIB, argued that
“If such moral policing continues, it would lead to the death of creativity”.
They insist that if the same continues, “there will be no freedom of speech on the internet medium and that would mean that they would have to think within the confines of what is permissible.”
Alia Bhatt, actress and an audience in the AIB show tweeted:
“Some “not taking life so seriously” lessons are needed. DESPERATELY!!!!”
Karan Johar, the host of the AIB knockout of Ranveer and Arjun also tweeted:
“Not your cup of tea…don’t drink it!!!”
Social networking sites are flooded with tweets terming the video to be a matter of national shame. On the other hand, there are also strong groups of people standing in support of it and defending everyone involved in it.
Both ‘AIB National shame’ and ‘we stand by AIB Knockout’ are trending on social networking sites.
Some tweets which came in protest to the AIB Knockout:
“AIB National Shame: Shame on those celebs too who praised this show on twitter, and they talk about women empowerment, pathetic #AIBRoast”
“#AIB National Shame is not freedom of expression or media! It is an expression of perverted depraved minds that endanger social norms!”
“A bunch of jerks having some shitting views on opening up society does not imply the whole nation having same views “AIB National Shame”
Well, to some it is a serious issue and some laugh it off. It is not surprising to find varied opinions because comic preferences vary from person to person.
Recent Developments
The latest report in this regard is that Bollywood stars have been named in a new police case in Pune, which involves Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh, Sonakshi Sinha, Arjun Kapoor and director Karan Johar. This FIR accuses them and comedy collective AIB of obscene behavior and content in a public place. YouTube is also named for distributing the offensive content according to the FIR filed by a police inspector. The FIR was registered in the wee hours of 6th Feb under Sec 292 and Sec. 294 of IPC.
Vinod Tawde, the Cultural Affairs Minister was quoted saying:
“Officials of the department will examine videos of the show for content. If found vulgar, action will be initiated.”
He further explained:
“Some people reported to me that the performance had vulgar language, and inquired if the performers had the censor certificate. I asked Cultural Affairs Director Ajay Ambekar to conduct an inquiry. There is no problem if they have a certificate. If they don’t, we need to find out how the stadium allowed such a performance without a censor certificate. It’s a crime then and we will have to register an FIR. In the state, our censor board is supposed to give permits.”
“If the AIB roast was vulgar and not in accordance with the law, then we will act,” said Devendra Fadnavis, Maharashtra CM.
In midst of all the controversies on 4th Feb. 2015 the AIB team took down its video from YouTube and wrote an open letter to everyone explaining why they did so. Further explaining the work they do, the AIB team wrote:
“People who’ve been following our work will know that we’ve always tried to experiment with content, be it on YouTube or a live comedy show, with the sole intent of making people laugh and/or think. AIB Knockout was another such attempt to try something new and bring the roast format to a country where celebrities aren’t often known to laugh at themselves.“
Legal Grounds
As we all know that an inquiry is being conducted into the AIB issue after Akhilesh Tiwari’s FIR at Sakinaka police station in Mumbai, coming to a conclusion whether the Knockout is legal or illegal, would be too early.
Alleging obscenity, two complaints have been filed in Mumbai. “The Christian community has given us a representation. We are looking into the legal aspects of it,” said senior police officer S Jayakumar.
Also, Mr. Ashok Pandit the lately added member of the Censor Board in a recent interview stated:
“All staged performances, plays or stand-up comedies in Mumbai have to get permission from the Maharashtra police. They also have to submit their request for permission to the cultural ministry. The AIB has done none of these. They got no bloody clearance to have the show”.
On the other hand, the organizers argue that they had permission. However, there are no proper reports which clearly mention that the knockout which was conducted in front of such a large audience had any kind of clearance.
Ratna Kapur in her book “The profanity of prudery: The moral face of obscenity law in India” wrote:
“Sexual speech has become a highly contentious terrain in India, with an increasing call by the state, progressive groups and women’s organizations to restrict or curtail such speech. This call is being made at a time when the public space available for the expression of previously repressed sexuality has been expanding. The discomfort around sexual expression is related to the discomfort around sex generally.”
“The prudery that surrounds sexual expression informs the legal regulation of sexual speech in India. The increasing call for censorship, by the religious right as well as women’s groups, reinforce a conservative position around sex generally, and women’s right to sexual expression more specifically. In the light of discriminatory impact of all the call for censorship, is it an appropriate or even an effective legal response? The legal regulation of sexual speech is based on conservative sexual morality that views sex as a bad and corrupting influence that ought to be contained”.
Whether conservative or not? This is a question whose answer varies from person to person; not everyone can be expected to freely exercise sexual expression of thoughts as some might want to keep it private.
However, our Indian Penal Code has a different story to say. The AIB allegedly did not act according to what the law permits; their acts are considered offensive and vulgar. One major reason behind this is the fact that the Roasting of stars format is new to India and this is one country where stars are not known for laughing at themselves. Well, the (#AIBNATIONALSHAME) consider that sexual expression, using offensive language for women publically and the participation of well-established stars for the same cannot be considered comic.
In order to decide whether it was lawful or not, we need to know what Sec.292 and Sec.294 of IPC talks about; these being the sections AIB team is charged with:
Sec. 292 of the Indian Penal Code:
- Sale, etc., or obscene books, etc.
For the purposes of sub-section (2), a book, pamphlet, paper, writing, drawing, painting, representation, figure or any other object, shall be deemed to be obscene if it is lascivious or appeals to the prurient interest or if its effect, or (where it comprises two or more distinct items) the effect of any one of its items, is, if taken as a whole, such as to tend to deprave and corrupt persons who are likely, having regard to all relevant circumstances, to read, see or hear the matter contained or embodied in it. - Whoever-
(a) Sells, lets to hire, distributes, publicly exhibits or in any manner puts into circulation, or for purposes of sale, hire, distribution, public exhibition or circulation, makes, produces or has in his possession any obscene book, pamphlet, paper, drawing, painting, representation or figure or any other obscene object whatsoever, or
(b) Imports, exports or conveys any obscene object for any of the purposes aforesaid, or knowing or having reason to believe that such object will be sold, let to hire, distributed or publicly exhibited or in any manner put into circulation, or
(c) Takes part in or receives profits from any business in the course of which he knows or has reason to believe that any such obscene objects are, for any of the purposes aforesaid, made, produced, purchased, kept, imported, exported, conveyed, publicly exhibited or in any manner put into circulation, or
(d) Advertises or makes known by any means whatsoever that any person is engaged or is ready to engage in any act which is an offence under this section, or that any such obscene object can be procured from or through any person, or
Sec. 294 of the Indian Penal Code:
Whoever, to the annoyance of others-
(a) Does any obscene act in any public place, or
(b) Sings, recites or utters any obscene song, balled or words, in or near any public place,
Shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three months, or with fine, or with both.
The charges under Sec. 292 and 294 of IPC if proved will land the AIB team into more trouble. Sec. 294(b) says that any person, who sings, recites or utters any obscene song, balled or words, in or near any public place shall be punished with imprisonment extending up to 3months or fine or both.
Concluding this, all we can hope is ‘May justice is served right’.
ALL THE BEST AIB#.
