The Supreme
Court on Wednesday has refused to provide interim protection from arrest to
Tandav’s director Ali Abbas Zafar and others who are seeking quashing of issued
notices and FIRs against them by Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and other states
for allegedly hurting Hindu’s religious sentiments.

A total of three separate petitions of Zafar, Amazon Prime India head
Aparna Purohit, producer Himanshu Mehra, the show’s writer Gaurav Solanki and
actor Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub was heard by a bench including justices Ashok
Bhushan, R Subhash Reddy and M R Shah.

Besides seeking quashing of the FIRs, the pleas have requested clubbing
of FIRs, reported PTI.

The bench of three has asked responses from states including UP, MP,
Karnataka, Maharashtra, Bihar and Delhi on the pleas.

“Tandav”, released on January 15, is a political thriller, featuring
Bollywood stars like Saif Ali Khan, Dimple Kapadia, Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub, Sunil
Grover and Gauahar Khan.

Also read: Saif Ali Khan’s new show ‘Tandav’ stirs controversy: What we know so far

The nine-episode web series, since its
release on Amazon Prime Video, has landed
itself into a political controversy on their two scenes.

In one scene, actor Zeeshan Ayyub’s character
plays Lord Shiva in a college play. However, he doesn’t don Lord Shiva’s
traditional look and speaks about issues plaguing the society.

Another scene shows actor Sandhya Mridul’s
character who tells her boyfriend and the father of her child, a Dalit
political leader played by actor Anup Soni, that a man from the lower caste
always takes advantage when he is involved with a woman from the upper caste.

Several leaders, including members of the
ruling party BJP, have demanded the streaming platform to remove the show as it
allegedly hurts religious sentiments and ridicules Hindu gods.

‘Tandav’ makers had already issued an apology
after complaints were registered with Police in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh.