The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a plea that sought a stay on the release of a documentary on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. The bench said the freedom of speech and expression are “sacrosanct” and “should not be ordinarily interfered with”, Live Law reported.
“Any film or drama or novel is creation of art,” a three-judge bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and justice AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud said. “An artist has his own freedom to express himself in a manner that is not prohibited in law.”
The plea was filed by Nachiketa Walhekar, the activist accused of throwing ink at Kejriwal in 2013. Walhekar claimed a clip of the incident was in the documentary, An Insignificant Man. He said the video “showed him as a convict and Arvind Kejriwal to be a hero” and pointed out that the case was still pending trial at the Patiala House Court. Walhekar wanted a stay on the film till the video is removed or a disclaimer is added.
The court responded saying “the right of a film producer to decide how it should be made, of a script writer to write its script, of a director to decide how it should be directed...all comes within their freedom of speech and expression...”
When the petitioner said the documentary could be used as evidence in the trial, the court said that “would be for the trial court to adjudge under the Evidence Act”.
The court’s stand comes at a time when several groups are demanding that the release of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmavati be stopped as it “distorts history”.
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