Mor, meanwhile, has been placed with the Panchkula headquarters of the Haryana sports department till the completion of an inquiry against him

The case dates back to 5 June last year when Moushumi Ghoshal, the school vice-principal, lodged an FIR at the Rai police station against ‘Virodh’ producer Manish Trehan and director Rahul Dahiya as well as OTT platform Max Player for showing the institution in bad light by unauthorisedly releasing the thriller.

The web series was released allegedly without obtaining the NOC, the FIR reads.

According to police sources, Mor was arrested based on the statement of Trehan. The producer was also arrested, but released on bail.

Pragati Tiwari, a representative of the web series production team, didn’t respond to calls and WhatsApp messages.

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Contents of FIR

In the FIR, Ghoshal said that a web series was shot on the MNSS premises by Mumbai-based production house Click On RM Pvt Limited in December 2021.

The web series was launched on MX Player with the title ‘Virodh’ in April 2022. “It is to be mentioned that before the release of the web series, a NOC was sought from the institution, but it was declined with a demand that the web series be first shown to the school authorities,” the complaint reads.

Ghoshal adds that the web series shows the MNSS as Kamala Nehru Sports School and shows the school’s logo and the uniform worn by the students.

“The web series has obscene scenes, uses abusive language, and has some highly objectionable scenes. Schoolchildren have been shown consuming liquor and smoking cigarettes in the hostel and a coach has been shown seeking sexual favours from girl students,” the FIR says.

ThePrint has a copy of the FIR.

It adds that immediately after the release, the school administration wrote to Trehan and Dahiya to remove the name and logo from the web series, or else face legal action.

“The web series has sullied the reputation of our school. It has hurt all students living in the hostels, as well as their teachers, coaches, employees, and guardians,” the FIR says.

Umesh Kumar, Station House Officer (SHO) of the Rai Police Station, told The Print Tuesday that it took the police a long time to collect evidence and record statements. Trehan was arrested and released after he joined the investigation, he said.

He said the investigations revealed that Mor permitted the producer and director to shoot the web series on the school premises without seeking approval from the sports department. Trehan told the police that Mor demanded money for giving him the NOC, the SHO said.

Mor rebutted the allegations as “absurd and completely false”. “I will not go into other details because being a government servant I am barred from speaking to the press. But the allegations that I demanded money are concocted and absurd. It was on my orders that the vice-principal lodged the FIR in this case,” he told ThePrint.

He said that he was a former student of the school (1977 to 1989) and that he would do nothing that would harm the interests of his alma mater.

Contacted by The Print, Yashendra Singh, Director, Sports Department, Haryana, confirmed that the government has divested the responsibilities from Mor and handed them to Ghoshal.

Dahiya, meanwhile, said that of the web series of 173 minutes duration, the school featured merely 12-13 minutes.

“When I was hired as a director by the production team for this web series, they had over 25 locations in the national capital region to choose from. Since I am a student of this school (1999 batch), I spoke to the management and we went for MNSS as the location,” Dahiya told ThePrint.

“After finishing the shoot, I dissociated myself from the production because of personal reasons. According to an understanding with the MNSS, any reference to the school was to be deleted from the final copy. During the post-production stage, I was in touch with the team as well as the school for the deletion of references to the school. However, there were certain issues between the producer and the school regarding NOC, and the film was eventually released without an NOC,” he said.

Dahiya added that he provided all details, including the emails, to the police.

(Edited by Tony Rai)

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