During the hearing of petitions filed by the makers of Amazon Prime Video's 'Tandav', seeking the consolidation and transfer of FIRs lodged against them in six cities for allegedly offending religious sentiments, the Supreme Court was informed today that the cases pending in Uttar Pradesh have been closed.

A bench comprising Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan heard the matter and allowed the inclusion of the states of Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh, where cases related to the web series are reportedly still pending.

During the hearing, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju informed the Court that the matter had become infructuous concerning Delhi. He stated, "As far as the NCT of Delhi is concerned, we have transferred the case to Lucknow. Nothing remains for us; we are not conducting any investigation."

Counsel representing Maharashtra made a similar statement, informing the Court that the FIR registered in Ghatkopar had been transferred to Uttar Pradesh. Advocate Ruchira Goel, appearing for Uttar Pradesh, stated that the cases registered or transferred to UP had been closed, as closure reports had been filed by the authorities. "In all FIRs in UP, final reports have been filed. There were three FIRs in UP, and we have filed closure reports for all three," she said. Meanwhile, counsel for Madhya Pradesh informed the Court that as of April 2024, the investigation into the subject FIRs was ongoing, and requested additional time to file a status report.

In response to Advocate Goel's statement, Senior Advocate Siddharth Luthra, representing the petitioners, submitted that the issue now remained only with respect to the states of Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, and Himachal Pradesh. He requested that the petitioners be permitted to implead Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh in the proceedings.

After considering the submissions, the Court passed an order acknowledging the statements made and allowing the impleadment of Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh in the case.

The scrutiny is focused on the creators of Amazon Prime Video's web series 'Tandav'—a nine-episode political thriller released in January 2021, which sparked controversy for allegedly offending religious sentiments. Following the series' release, several FIRs were lodged across the country against its director, producer, writer, actors, and Amazon India Original's head, Aparna Purohit, under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, and the Information Technology Act, 2000.

In the same month, the Supreme Court heard a plea filed by director Ali Abbas Zafar, producer Himanshu Mehra, writer Gaurav Solanki, and Aparna Purohit, seeking the quashing of the proceedings against them. They also requested the consolidation and transfer of all complaints to a single police station.

A bench comprising Justices Ashok Bhushan, R Subhash Reddy, and MR Shah issued notice in the batch of petitions but declined to grant any interim protection to the accused. Additionally, the Supreme Court rejected the petitioners' request to quash the FIRs. However, the Court clarified that the pendency of the petition would not prejudice the petitioners' right to seek appropriate remedies from the concerned courts, including bail or the quashing of FIRs.

In March 2021, Aparna Purohit was granted interim anticipatory bail, which was later confirmed by a Supreme Court bench led by Justice Sanjiv Khanna in December 2022.