On April 29, the actress Tamannaah Bhatia is scheduled to appear before the Cyber Cell for interrogation.
About the unauthorized streaming of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 matches on the FairPlay application, a sister app of the Mahadev betting app, in violation of the broadcast rights of the Viacom 18 group, actress Tamannaah Bhatia has been summoned by Maharashtra Cyber Wing for questioning, according to news agency ANI.
The well-known actress from “Baahubali,” who has been called in for interrogation over allegations that she encouraged people to watch IPL matches on the Fairplay betting app, is expected to testify before the Cyber Cell on April 29.
It is also said that Sanjay Dutt’s name came up concerning the case. Earlier this week, he was summoned to appear for interrogation. He requested a new date because he was unable to attend owing to his schedule.
As to the news source, Viacom suffered a loss of crores of rupees due to the illicit streaming.
The Maharashtra cyber police had earlier questioned Bollywood musician and rapper Badshah as well as the managers of actors Sanjay Dutt and Jacqueline Fernandez for allegedly pushing the betting app and asking people to use it to watch cricket matches.
What is the situation?
The lawsuit stems from a 2023 FIR filed by the Viacom 18 group, alleging that some IPL 2023 matches were illegally streamed on Fairplay, with several performers endorsing and promoting the betting app.
VOOT, an OTT platform, and a number of television stations are owned by Viacom18. Its anti-piracy team discovered in October 2021 that seven apps—Pikashow, Foxi, Vedu, Smart Player Lite, Film Plus, Tea TV, and Wow TV—were being used to view illegal serials, reality series, and other content that was being broadcast on the Viacom 18 network.
A complaint was filed against these apps, alleging that they were displaying Viacom 18 content for financial gain without obtaining the necessary licenses, costing the firm more than ₹100 crore.