Partial relief for Priya Prakash Varrier as SC stays criminal cases against her

New Delhi: Giving a partial relief to Malayalam actress Priya Prakash Varrier, the Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed all the cases pending against her and said no criminal proceedings to take place against her till further hearing. The actress on Monday had filed a petition in the apex court, seeking to quash the cases filed against a song featuring her that has gone viral on social media and instantly made her an internet sensation. Complaints had been lodged in Maharashtra and Telangana against Priya Prakash Varrier and film director Omar Lulu for allegedly hurting sentiments of the Muslim community through a song in their forthcoming movie "Oru Adaar Love". Hyderabad Police has registered a case against Omar Lulu on February 14 under section 295A of the IPC (hurting religious sentiments). The petition said the controversy on the song 'Manikya Malaria Puvi' in the Malayalam film 'Oru Adar Love' is irrelevant and it's a folk song of the Muslims of the Malabar region. According to the petition, the song was written by poet PMA Jabbar in 1978 and for 40 years, Muslims in Kerala have been singing it with joy. "It is submitted that a song, which .... has been cherished by more than one crore Muslim population of Kerala, cannot suddenly offend the religious sentiment of the Muslim community," the plea said. WATCH HER EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH ABP NEWS It said the entire issue was related to the improper understanding of the Malayalam language as people who are not familiar with the Malayalam language have misinterpreted the song and thus complained about it. It stated that criminal complaints and registration of FIRs in multiple states on the basis of complaints by "fringe elements who have misunderstood the lyrics of the song which they claim allegedly offended their religious sentiments and that of their community has adversely affected the petitioners right to life, liberty and freedom of expression under the Constitution." Priya and Omar said the case based upon mistranslation of the song violated their freedom of speech and expression. The petition said the film is still incomplete and Rs. 1.5 crore had already been spent on it. The film is slated to be released later this year.