On January 21, the Supreme Court issued a notice on plea of a Mirzapur resident complaining against the web series Mirzapur and Amazon Prime for maligning the image of his native place in Uttar Pradesh. "Mirzapur has rich cultural value, but in 2018 Excel Entertainment has launched a web series named Mirzapur of 9 episodes in which they have shown Mirzapur a city of goons and adulteresses," said the plea.
However, now the Allahabad High Court has stayed the arrest of producers of the show - Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani, in connection with a first information report that accused them of the improper and indecent portrayal of the town Mirzapur and outraging religious belief.
A division bench of justices Manoj Kumar Gupta and Subhash Chand directed the petitioners to offer full cooperation in the investigation while granting the relief. Hearing a writ petition filed by Akhtar and Sidhwani, the court issued notice to the Uttar Pradesh government and complainant seeking their replies and listed the case in the first week of March.
Earlier, a team of police officers from Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh had reached the Mumbai Crime Branch. The UP police officers were in Mumbai to investigate the FIR filed against makers of Mirzapur in the Mirzapur district. Three team officials from the UP police were to question makers of Mirzapur and officials of Amazon Prime Video. The team of UP police officers sought necessary permission and local assistance after reaching the DCP office of the Mumbai crime branch.