A public interest litigation (PIL) was filed in the Delhi High Court on Monday, September 2, seeking a ban on the OTT series ‘IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack’ which allegedly distorts facts about the real identities of the hijackers. The petition claimed that the miniseries wrongly portrays the hijackers with Hindu names such as Bhola and Shankar, thereby hurting the sentiments of the Hindu community.

The petition filed by Hindu Sena president and farmer Surjeet Singh Yadav has requested the Delhi High Court to direct the Centre and Maharashtra government to cancel the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) certificate and ban the public screening of the OTT series.

“This distortion of crucial facts regarding the actual identity of the hijackers not only misrepresents historical events but also spreads harmful stereotypes and misinformation, which requires the intervention of this Court to prevent public misunderstanding and potential harm to the society,” the petition said.

Meanwhile, Netflix India content head Monika Shergill has been summoned. Shergill is expected to appear before the government on Tuesday amid a controversy over the portrayal of hijackers in the streaming platform’s series ‘IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack’.

Top government sources said on Monday that the Information and Broadcasting Ministry has directed Shergill to appear on September 3 to give clarifications on the alleged controversial aspects of the web series.

‘IC 814’, which The dramatic story of the hijacking of Indian Airlines flight IC 814 in 1999 The series, produced by Pakistan-based terrorist organisation Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, had sparked controversy on social media as the two hijackers in the series were referred to only by their Hindu code names.