Shobhaa De faced protests by Shiv Sena over her tweet on Marathi films order
After a petition by author Shobhaa De, the Supreme Court 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 lawmaker Pratap Sarnik demanded a privilege motion against her and an apology.
The Shiv Sena, which co-governs Maharashtra with the BJP, was widely criticized for its protests against the author earlier this month.
The Sena took offence to a tweet in which Shobhaa De wrote, "No more pop corn at multiplexes in Mumbai? Dahi misal and vada pav only. To go better with the Marathi movies at prime time."
She was criticizing the state government's order to multiplexes to dedicate at least one screen to Marathi films during the peak business hours of 6 pm to 9 pm every day. After a strong backlash, the state government increased the hours and said the films could be shown anytime 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!"