Self-styled godman Swami Shraddhanand moves court demanding Prime Video stop streaming docu series Dancing On The Grave

On Monday, self-styled godman and convicted killer Murali Manohar Mishra, known as Swami Shraddhanand, who is serving a jail sentence for the murder of his wife, socialite Shakereh Khaleeli, sent a legal notice to Amazon Prime Video and India Today, seeking to stop the circulation of the web series, Dancing On The Grave. 

According to a report by Bar and Bench, Shraddhanand claims that the series, which documents the crime and the investigation that followed, prejudices his case pending in the Supreme Court. 

Bar and Bench shared a part of the notice sent by Shraddhanand and tweeted, “Murali Manohar Mishra (Swami Shraddhanand) who is currently lodged in a Madhya Pradesh jail for the murder of his wife and socialite Shakereh Khaleeli has sent a legal notice to @IndiaToday and @amazon to stop the circulation of web series #DancingOnTheGrave since it prejudices his case pending before the #SupremeCourtofIndia

Here’s the tweet

Murali Manohar Mishra (Swami Shraddhanand) who is currently lodged in a Madhya Pradesh jail for the murder of his wife and socialite Shakereh Khaleeli has sent a legal notice to @IndiaToday and @amazon to stop the circulation of web series #DancingOnTheGrave since it prejudices… pic.twitter.com/GOXqcKIdjB

— Bar & Bench (@barandbench) April 24, 2023

The notice, sent by Shraddhanand’s lawyer, claims, “The said web series is related to my client whose case is pending before the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Writ Petition (Crl.) No. 66 of 2014. Your above web series is clear violation of the law of lands, as adversely affecting the legal rights of my client in sub-judice matter before the Hon’ble Supreme Court.”

It then asks the streamer and the makers to stop its broadcast. “Therefore, I hereby call upon you through this Legal notice to please stop circulation/releasing of your above web-series, immediately after receiving the present legal notice. Failing which, I have clear instructions to initiate the civil/criminal cases against you before the court of law for that you shall be sole responsible for all cost and consequences,” reads the notice. Shraddhanand has also demanded Rs 55,000 from Prime Video and India Today for fees and expenses of the legal notice.

The four-episode series, Dancing On The Grave, released on April 21 and is currently streaming on Prime Video. It is a joint production of Prime Video and India Today group and uses testimonies from investigators, family members of Shakereh, as well as Shraddhanand himself. Shakereh Khaleeli was murdered in her Bengaluru home in 1991. She had been drugged and buried alive in her own backyard, the same house in which Shraddhanand continued to live till he was arrested three years later.

Shraddhanand was arrested for her murder in 1994 and has been in prison since. He was initially sentenced to death but the sentence was later commuted to imprisonment till death.