Discovery Communications has approached the Supreme Court regarding the recently released documentary series ‘Cult of Ferr: Asaram Bapu’. The petition said that since the release of this documentary series on 29 January, the officers and employees of Discovery are continuously getting threats. At some places, a crowd of supporters of Asaram Bapu also gathered outside his offices. Hearing this petition, the Supreme Court directed the Central Government and several state governments to protect people associated with discovery.
In addition to the central government, the governments of Maharashtra, Telangana, Delhi, Haryana, West Bengal, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have been made favor in the petition of Discovery Communications. The petition said that since the release of the documentary series regarding the disputed saint Asaram Bapu, people associated with Discovery are also getting threats in different ways. After the crowd gathered outside the Mumbai office of Discovery, employees have been asked to work from home in view of security.
Discovery has said that it requested security in police stations at several places including Mumbai, Pune, Gurugram, Delhi, Hyderabad, Bengaluru. In some places the police showed seriousness, but in some places the police activeness did not appear as per the need. The petition also demanded from the Supreme Court that he had made nationwide guidelines in cases related to mob violence and public property damage. The same should be done for such cases.
Next hearing will be held on March 4
Senior advocate Abhinav Mukherjee appeared on behalf of Discovery Communications in front of the bench of Chief Justice Sanjeev Khanna, Justice Sanjay Kumar and KV Vishwanathan. The bench issued a notice in the case after a brief hearing. Also directed the Central and State Governments to take appropriate action on complaints made by Discovery Communications and ensure the safety of Discovery offices and employees. The next hearing of the case will be held on 4 March.