On Shobhaa De's Petition, Supreme Court Stays Notice to Her by Maharashtra Assembly

After an petation by author Shobhaa De, the Supreme Court today put on hold a today put on hold a notice of privilege sent to her by the Maharashtra assembly over her tweet criticizing a state government order on Marathi films.
The notice has been issued after a Shiv Sena official Pratap Sarnik requested a benefit movement against her and an expression of remorse.
The Shiv Sena, which co-administers Maharashtra with the BJP, was generally censured for its dissents against the creator prior this month.
The Sena took offense to a tweet in which Shobhaa De composed, “No all the more pop corn at multiplexes in Mumbai? Dahi misal and vada pav just. To run better with the Marathi films at prime time.”
She was reprimanding the state government’s request to multiplexes to devote no less than one screen to Marathi movies amid the crest business hours of 6 pm to 9 pm consistently. After a solid kickback, the state government expanded the hours and said the movies could be indicated at whatever time between 12 pm and 9 pm.
Senior advocate CA Sundaram, appearing for Ms De, said: “She has the right to express her views as a citizen of the country. The comments were made against the decision of the government and her tweets don’t even remotely breach any privilege of the assembly.”
In a tweet after the privilege notice came up in the assembly, Ms De had said, “Now a privilege motion demanding an apology from me? Come on! I am a proud Maharashtrian and love Marathi films. Always have. Always will!”