‘Cops cannot probe without formal complaint’

Can Tanmay Bhat be prosecuted for his stand-up comedy act, which allegedly mocked cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and singer Lata Mangeshkar?

Mumbai: Can Tanmay Bhat be prosecuted for his stand-up comedy act, which allegedly mocked cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and singer Lata Mangeshkar? This is the question before the Mumbai police, who are seeking legal opinion.

Bhushan Koyande/HT

The legal fraternity said the police have no power to investigate into the case without a formal complaint from either Tendulkar or Mangeshkar.

“In case of any defamation or public insult, the person who has been insulted has a legal remedy of moving the court. Mangeshkar and Tendulkar can both approach the court,” said Ayaz Khan, criminal lawyer.

He said that though they are public icons, the police cannot investigate without a formal complaint from the aggrieved people.

Criminal lawyer Avinash Rasal said the police will have to check legal provisions before taking any action.

He said that though they are public icons and their insult may cause an outrage but the police will have to first check if there is a cognizable offence.

“The police have to first figure out what is the crime. If they find any criminal conduct and decide to take action, they have to check if a case can be registered against the man for defamation on the basis of complaint from a third party,” Rasal said.

Advocate Abad Ponda said the police have no power to investigate or hold an inquiry in a defamation case without the permission of a magistrate. “As a basic principle, the defamation complaint has to be filed by the aggrieved person before the magistrate court if they are seeking criminal action and in a civil court in case of monitory compensation. The police cannot investigate defamation cases on their own,” Ponda said.

In the video, Bhat appears as Tendulkar and Mangeshkar and hurl insults at each other. Imitating Mangeshkar in the video, Bhat says cricketer Virat Kohli is better than Tendulkar. To this, Tendulkar tells the singer, “You are 5,000 years old...”

Twitter users lashed out at him for mocking the two idols, with some calling the video “offensive” and saying that it “wasn’t even funny”.