Chandigarh: The Centre has advised Zee5 not to release the Raaghav Dar directed docuseries ‘Lawrence of Punjab’. The communication, issued by the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, was shared in court Friday. Zee5 is expected to comply with the direction.
Additional solicitor general Satyapal Jain told ThePrint: “Based on the information received from various agencies, the Government of India has advised Zee5 not to telecast this series. Zee5 is expected to follow this advice.”
Satyapal Jain told the Punjab and Haryana High Court that the Centre had sought inputs from various agencies including the Union home ministry and the Punjab police. The court was hearing a public interest litigation filed by state Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring Wednesday, seeking a ban on the release of the series.
The docuseries was slated to be released 27 April. Based on the life of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, the docuseries looks at his journey from a college student to a gangster.
Congress chief of Punjab Amarinder Singh Raja Warring had Tuesday issued a legal notice to Zee5.
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting’s communication—a copy of which has been shared by advocate Nikhil Ghai representing Warring—states that the Punjab Police have expressed grave apprehension over the release of the series.
“Punjab Police have informed that there exists a reasonable apprehension that the documentary is prejudicial to public order and has the potential to incite the commission of cognisable offences… the content contains dramatised portrayals, real life footage and narrative elements which lead to the glorification and amplification of organised crime and criminal elements,” the note said.
“It is further informed that the documentary has the potential to negatively influence youth by normalising and romanticising organised crime; undermine ongoing law enforcement efforts against gangsterism and disturb public order, thereby vitiating the law and order situation in this state. Punjab police has informed that given the sensitivity of gangster related issues in Punjab and the potential for such content to evoke strong public reactions, the release of the series is likely to lead to heightened tensions and adverse law and order implications,” the ministry’s communication said.
The Government of India order also referred to a series of directions issued by the Punjab and Haryana High Court in a matter related to the interviews of Lawrence Bishnoi while he was in police custody. A bench headed by justice Anupinder Grewal had taken suo moto cognisance of the interviews telecast on a local TV channel and apart from ordering a probe into the circumstances that led to the interviews, issued strict directions for the removal of the interviews.
The Centre also informed the court that the ministry had on 27 October 2025 issued an advisory to various OTT platforms to exercise “due caution and discretion” before publication/transmission of any film or web series, including biopics and documentaries on gangsters and criminals, which are likely to incite violence or disturb public order.
A trailer of ‘Lawrence of Punjab’ was released on 19 April. Apart from dramatic representation of killings involving Bishnoi and his gang—currently run by Goldy Brar from USA and Canada—the docuseries was expected to showcase the transformation of Bishnoi, a young student from a wealthy family of Punjab to a gangster.
Bishnoi is wanted in multiple cases across the country and was arrested in 2014. Since 2023, he has been in a Sabarmati jail in Gujarat for alleged involvement in a Rs 195-crore drug smuggling case being investigated by the Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad.
Bishnoi is wanted in Canada due to his gang’s alleged involvement in violent transnational crimes, including murder, extortion, and intimidation targeting South Asian community members. Canada has designated the Bishnoi gang a terrorist entity due to these activities and allegations that the group is used to target Khalistani separatists in Canada.
Talking to ThePrint, Ghai said the description of the web series itself shows that it would be glorifying the life of a gangster which would amount to promotion of unlawful activities. The subject matter of the series is therefore not fictional in abstraction but relates to a real individual associated with ongoing criminality thereby attracting heightened legal scrutiny,” said Ghai.
“The proposed portrayal, by dramatising the life of a criminal figure, runs the real risk of romanticising and legitimising criminal conduct, thereby conferring undeserved notoriety and social validation, creating incentives and aspirational value around criminality and diluting the deterrent effect of criminal law. Therefore, such depiction, in effect, amounts to direct promotion of unlawful activities which is impermissible in law,” he added.
“The state of Punjab is presently grappling with organised gang networks and youth susceptibility to criminal influence. In such a sensitive milieu, the portrayal of a real life gangster in a prominent narrative format is likely to trigger emulation and hero worship. There exists a proximate and not merely speculative likelihood of such content aggravating law and order concerns and the possibility of copycat incidents and inter-gang provocation cannot be ruled out,” pointed out Ghai.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
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