Hasmukh: Delhi High Court Refuses to Grant Interim Stay on Streaming of Series

Delhi High Court on Tuesday refused to grant an interim stay on the streaming of Hasmukh on Netflix. The court was hearing an interim application claiming the web series allegedly maligned the image of lawyers at large.

A bench of Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva dismissed the interim application, filed by advocate Ashutosh Dubey, seeking a stay on the streaming of the Hasmukh (Review) series. The court had recently sought a response from Netflix on a suit in the matter.

Dubey said that an interim application in the matter was dismissed today but the main suit against the respondents will continue after them filing their response on the matter.

"This suit is filed for an injunction against the media-streaming platform Netflix and production firm Emmay Entertainment from further airing the web series Hasmukh and delete the disparaging and defamatory comments made against the lawyer community," he said.

Senior advocates Sandeep Sethi and Amit Sibal appeared for the respondents in the hearing held through video conference.

The petition sought an unconditional apology from the streaming platform Netflix for allegedly damaging the reputation and maligning the image of lawyers at large through one of its episodes.

The plea said that the show, in episode 4 of season 1, "Bambai Ka Bambu", alleges lawyers to be thieves, scoundrels, goons, and "they have had the indecency to address lawyers as rapists".

It said that the statements are highly disparaging, defamatory, and bring disrepute to the law profession and lawyers/advocates in the eyes of the general public.

The said remarks have caused utmost damage to the legal profession and impugn the image of lawyers in the eyes of millions of viewers/subscribers who visit the streaming website where the show is being streamed, the plea said.

"Being a lawyer is a noble and honourable profession that requires a manner and conduct to be carefully followed. In Bar Council of India rules, a lawyer holds a duty to act with dignity and self-respect to uphold the interest of the client by all fair and honourable means, and shall not take advantage of the confidence reposed in him by his client," it said.

The plea said that apart from fighting cases, lawyers also provide their skills and knowledge to the society by doing pro bono cases and lending legal services to the poor and needy.

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