The Central Board of Film Certification on Thursday told the Bombay High Court that the film Emergency could be released after incorporating the cuts that its revising committee suggested, Bar and Bench reported.
Emergency is a Hindi-language film based on the Emergency imposed by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s government in 1975.
It stars actor-turned-politician Kangana Ranaut, who is a Bharatiya Janata Party MP from Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi. She is also the writer and director of the film, besides having co-produced it.
A bench of Justices BP Colabawalla and Firdosh Pooniwalla was on Thursday hearing a petition filed by co-producer Zee Entertainment Enterprises, seeking directions to the film certification board to expedite clearance for the movie.
The petition claimed that the censor board was “arbitrarily” and “illegally” withholding the film’s certification. It claimed that despite being informed of the film’s certification on August 29, the film certification board was yet to provide a formal copy of the approval.
After the Central Board of Film Certification made its submission before the bench on the release of the film, the counsel for Zee Entertainment said that he would consult his clients on whether they would agree to make the cuts.
The court listed the matter for further hearing on September 30.
At an earlier hearing, Zee Entertainment claimed that the film’s release was being stalled by the Central Board of Film Certification to ensure that the BJP did not lose Sikh votes in the Haryana Assembly elections, which will be held on October 5.
Zee Entertainment alleged that the film’s censor certification was held up to delay its release, which was initially scheduled for September 6.
The company said that the movie was being seen as “anti-Sikh film” and that the BJP did not want to hurt the sentiments of Haryana’s sizeable Sikh population.
“The co-producer is a BJP MP and they do not want a film which hurts the sentiments of certain communities by a BJP member,” said Zee Entertainment’s lawyer.
On its part, the Central Board of Film Certification told the court that it had sent the movie to a review committee to consider objections by several parties, including Sikh groups, as per the direction of the Madhya Pradesh High Court.
The now-disposed petitions against the release of the film in Madhya Pradesh were moved by two Sikh groups: Jabalpur Sikh Sangat and Guru Singh Sabha Indore. They alleged that the movie included scenes infringing on the fundamental rights of their community.
The petitioners also said that the film’s depiction of historical events and use of the term “Khalistan” could mislead and defame Sikhs. Khalistan refers to an independent nation for Sikhs that some members of the community seek to carve out of India.
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