Tamannaah Bhatia summoned for questioning over illegal streaming of IPL matches

Maharashtra Cyber Wing has summoned Indian actress Tamannaah Bhatia for questioning in connection to the illegal streaming of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 matches on an application called Fairplay, a sister app of Mahadevbetting app. The app has violated the broadcasting rights of Viacom 18 group, according to ANI report.

Bhatia has been summoned for allegedly promoting the viewing of the IPL matches on the Fairplay betting app. She has been asked to appear before the Cyber Cell for questioning and record her statement as a witness on April 29.

According to reports, actor Sanjay Dutt's name too has emerged in connection with the case. He was to appear for questioning this week but due to his schedule, he could not appear and requested a new date.

According to the news agency, the illegal streaming caused Viacom a loss of millions of rupees.

Earlier, Bollywood singer and rapper Badshah and the managers of actors Sanjay Dutt and Jacqueline Fernandez were also quizzed by the Maharashtra cyber police for allegedly promoting the betting app and urging viewers to tune in on the application to watch the cricket matches.

What's the case?

The case dates back to 2023 when Viacom 18 lodged an FIR and alleged that some of the IPL 2023 matches were illegally streamed on Fairplay, and many actors endorsed and promoted the betting application.

Viacom18 owns several television channels and the OTT platform, VOOT. In October 2021, its anti-piracy team learnt that there were seven apps—Pikashow, Foxi, Vedu, Smart Player Lite, Film Plus, Tea TV and Wow TV—that were illegally showing serials, reality shows and other content which are exclusive to Viacom 18 platform.