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Shashi Tharoor Asks Modi to Withdraw FTII Cases Against Payal Kapadia (2024)

On May 28, 2024, Shashi Tharoor asked Modi to withdraw cases against Payal Kapadia and other FTII students after Modi congratulated her Cannes Grand Prix win. What the appeal meant, and what is still unverified.
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On May 28, 2024, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to withdraw the cases against filmmaker Payal Kapadia and other Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) students. He made the request after Modi publicly congratulated Kapadia on winning the Grand Prix at the 77th Cannes Film Festival. Tharoor’s request was a political appeal. It was not an order, a court decision, or a government action, and the reporting from that week does not show that the cases were withdrawn.

What Tharoor asked for, and who was asked

Tharoor’s statement was addressed to the government and to Modi personally. He framed it as a question: if India is proud of Kapadia, the government should immediately withdraw the cases against her and the FTII students who protested the appointment of Gajendra Chauhan as the institute’s chairperson. The hashtag he used, #WithdrawTheCases, became the shorthand for the appeal in later coverage.

The request does not carry legal force. Only the authorities handling a case can withdraw it or dispose of it, and a public appeal from a Member of Parliament does not by itself change the proceedings. Readers should keep that distinction in mind when they see the headline’s wording.

The 2015 protest and the cases behind it

The cases trace back to 2015, when students at FTII protested Chauhan’s appointment as chairperson. Reporting describes the students as objecting to his suitability for the post. That protest is the root of the matter, and most of the disagreement about the case concerns what happened in the protest, not the appointment itself.

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The FIR and the reported allegations

Press reports state that a First Information Report (FIR) was registered against 35 students after an incident involving the then FTII director, Prashant Pathrabe. India Today, reporting in 2024, lists the allegations as unlawful assembly, criminal intimidation, and rioting. These are allegations as reported in the press. They are not findings of a court, and nothing in the 2024 coverage establishes guilt. Anyone writing about the case should attribute these charges to the FIR and to the reporting, rather than stating them as settled fact.

Why the number 35 matters and what it does not show

The figure of 35 is a case-specific count taken from the reported FIR. It describes how many students were named, not how many were convicted, charged in a final sense, or involved in any particular act. It is not a broader statistic about student protests in India.

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The Cannes win and why it renewed attention

Kapadia won the Grand Prix at the 77th Cannes Film Festival for All We Imagine as Light. Modi congratulated her publicly, describing her as an FTII alumna whose talent “continues to shine on the global stage.” Tharoor’s response used that praise as the opening for his request. The sequence matters: the award did not create the case, but it brought the older dispute back into national conversation.

Three public statements, three different functions

Three people spoke publicly in the same week, and their statements did different things. Keeping them separate prevents the common mistake of treating praise, a political request, and a legal step as one event.

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Speaker Role at the time What was said or asked Who was addressed Effect on the cases
Narendra Modi Prime Minister of India Praised Kapadia’s Cannes Grand Prix win and her FTII background The public None; a public congratulation
Shashi Tharoor Congress MP Asked the government to withdraw the cases against Kapadia and other FTII students The government and Modi None by itself; a political request
Resul Pookutty Sound designer Called on FTII to withdraw the cases against Kapadia and the other students The institute None by itself; a call from a public figure

What the reported statements say

Tharoor’s post

As quoted by India Today, Tharoor wrote: “Modi ji, if India is proud of her, should your government not immediately #WithdrawTheCases against her and fellow FTII students protesting against your government’s arbitrary appointment of an unqualified chairman?” The line is a rhetorical challenge built on Modi’s own praise, and it characterises the appointment as arbitrary. That is Tharoor’s position, and it is presented as his view.

Modi’s congratulation

As quoted by Telegraph India, Modi said India was proud of Kapadia’s “historic feat” and that her work “giv[es] a glimpse of the rich creativity in India.” The statement contains no reference to the cases. Tharoor’s request was built on the gap between that praise and the legal situation of the students.

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Pookutty’s appeal

Scroll quoted sound designer Resul Pookutty: “FTII must now withdraw the cases against Payal and the other students. It owes them the prestige that has been bestowed upon it.” His appeal is aimed at the institute, not the government, which is a different target from Tharoor’s.

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What is and is not established about the case today

The 2024 reporting establishes the request, the reported FIR, and the public exchange. It does not establish the case’s status now. Earlier coverage mentioned a hearing scheduled for June 26, 2024. That date is historical. It does not show what happened at that hearing or after it, and it should not be presented as a current court date.

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Because the reporting is from 2024 and the present date is October 2026, any claim that the cases are still pending, were withdrawn, or were decided would need a current source. No reliable public docket record for Kapadia’s specific case was identified in the material used for this article.

How to check the current status

  1. Start with the court record. Search for the case through the Pune court that handles the matter, using the FIR details reported in 2024 (35 named students, the FTII incident). Note the case number and the date of the latest order.
  2. Ask for or read the official order. A court order, a withdrawal application, or a disposal order is the only document that establishes legal status. A news report describing one is secondary.
  3. Check the original posts and statements. For quotations, compare the wording against the original post by Tharoor, the official statement from Modi’s office or channels, and Pookutty’s original remarks, rather than relying on a single outlet’s version.
  4. Look for dated follow-up reporting. Coverage from India Today, Scroll, or Telegraph India after 2024 that cites a specific order is more useful than general commentary on the story.

If the court record shows the cases are still open, the 2024 requests remain political appeals with no effect on the proceedings. If the record shows an order withdrawing or disposing of them, the date and order reference should be stated in place of the 2024 appeal.

Reading the story accurately

The episode combines three things that are easy to blur: a public congratulation for a filmmaker, a political appeal for the withdrawal of cases, and a set of reported allegations linked to a 2015 protest. Each has a different source, a different author, and a different legal weight. Read together, they show that the controversy is about the 2015 protest and its aftermath. Kapadia’s Cannes win made that old dispute visible again, but the award did not determine its outcome.

The reporting is clearest on what was said and by whom. Where it is less clear is on the legal path since 2024, and that is the part readers should verify against the court record before repeating it.

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