Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray has deleted a documentary alleging close ties between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and industrialist Gautam Adani, saying he removed it after a request conveyed to him through the Mumbai Police commissioner. The documentary was made by Hotmail founder Sabeer Bhatia, who separately confirmed he too had taken down his posts of it after a request from Mumbai Police.
The deletion follows legal notices Mumbai Police sent on October 18 to at least 24 X account holders who had shared the documentary, according to ThePrint, citing PTI. The notices cited Sections 352 and 356 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which cover intentional insult and defamation, after cyber police received a complaint about posts targeting a business conglomerate.
Thackeray said on Sunday that the documentary had been viewed more than 48 lakh times on X alone before he took it down. He wrote that his intention was for “this serious issue to reach the public,” and said that objective had already been achieved by the time he removed the post, according to Scroll.in.
Why Thackeray says he deleted it
Thackeray said he removed the post “out of respect” for the Mumbai and Maharashtra police forces, and framed the move as a courtesy rather than an admission that the documentary’s claims were wrong. He added that deleting it would not end his broader campaign against what he called authoritarianism in the country.
He has criticised the Adani Group’s business expansion since January, ahead of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation elections, arguing that the conglomerate was positioned to dominate large parts of Indian industry. Thackeray has said his objection is to monopoly in general and not to Adani specifically, and that the prime minister should encourage many industrialists rather than favour one.
What the police notices say
The October 18 notices to the 24 X accounts did not name any individual or explicitly refer to Bhatia’s documentary, ThePrint reported. They asked recipients to take down the flagged posts, citing a complaint received by cyber police about content targeting a business conglomerate. Some account holders complied and deleted the clips, while others shared copies of the notice publicly, calling the action an overreach.
Bhatia, who built and sold Hotmail to Microsoft in 1997, said he removed his own posts after the police request reached him. The article does not record a response from the Adani Group, the Mumbai Police commissioner’s office, or the central government to the specific notices or to Thackeray’s and Bhatia’s statements.
Section 352 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita covers intentional insult intended to provoke a breach of peace, and Section 356 covers defamation. Both are the successor provisions to sections of the old Indian Penal Code and are more commonly used in disputes between private individuals or companies than as the basis for a takedown request tied to a political documentary, which is part of why several of the notified account holders have objected to being named.
What this adds to
The episode is the latest in a running dispute between Thackeray and the Adani Group that has played out largely on social media and at MNS events since January. The documentary itself was screened at an MNS shakha, a local party unit, the day before Thackeray announced he had taken it down, suggesting the party intends to keep circulating the film’s claims offline even after removing it online.
Questions of political speech and platform takedowns following police requests have come up before in India, most often around content involving the prime minister. This case differs in that both the original poster, Bhatia, and the politician who amplified it, Thackeray, say they complied voluntarily rather than through a platform-level order, and both have continued to publicly describe the police contact that led to the removal.
The MNS has not said whether it plans to challenge the notices in court or continue screening the documentary at party events despite the online takedown. Thackeray’s public comments since Sunday have focused on defending the decision to remove the post rather than disputing the documentary’s content, which he maintains has already reached the audience he intended.
Frequently asked questions
Did a government order force the documentary’s removal?
No. Both Thackeray and Bhatia describe the removal as voluntary, following a request conveyed through Mumbai Police rather than a formal blocking order under the Information Technology Act.
Who filed the complaint that led to the police notices?
ThePrint’s report, citing PTI, says cyber police acted on a complaint about posts targeting a business conglomerate, without naming the complainant.
Is the documentary still available anywhere?
The report does not confirm whether copies remain accessible on other platforms or accounts after Thackeray’s and Bhatia’s removals, though the notices were sent to 24 separate X accounts, suggesting wider circulation beyond the two highest-profile posts.
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