SGPC bid to stall release of Nanak Shah Fakir fails in SC

NEWDELHI: The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) on Thursday made two unsuccessful attempts in the Supreme Court to stall the release of controversial movie Nanak Shah Fakir, hitting theatres across the nation on Friday.

The SGPC made the plea for the second time in afternoon after its first one was rejected. A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra refused for the second time to consider the SGPC submission that its plea be either heard today or tomorrow as it would be rendered infructuous as the movie is slated for release tomorrow.

The bench, also comprising Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud, said in the forenoon that the SGPC plea would be heard on April 16. “We are concerned with certification and the certification is there,” the bench said, when senior advocate PS Patwalia persisted with his submission that the plea be heard either today or tomorrow. The bench, however, turned down the plea.

The producer of the movie, Harinder Sikka, has reportedly said that the movie will not be released in Punjab. Earlier in the day, the apex court had refused to accord an urgent hearing to the SGPC plea, seeking modification of its order allowing the release across the country.

SGPC counsel Satender Singh Gulati had submitted in the court that nobody should be allowed to portray the life of Sikh gurus, their families and the Panj Pyaras on screen.

The bench had earlier said once a film has been approved for release by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), its screening can only be stalled through lawful means, and listed the matter for hearing on Monday.

The top court had on April 10 criticised the SGPC, the apex religious body of the Sikhs, for imposing restrictions on the film and had cleared the decks for its nationwide release on April 13, Baisakhi.

It had said after the CBFC certification, no group, body, association or individuals can create any kind of disturbance in exhibition of the film. The order had come on a petition by Sikka, a retired naval officer and the producer of the film, who had approached the apex court claiming that the SGPC had recently banned the release of film, based on the life and teachings of Sikhism’s founder Guru Nanak, even after the CBFC cleared it on March 28.

The bench had said the petition presented yet another picture of “many a private body endeavouring to curtail the freedom of expression of the idea of an author scripted in celluloid language because they have a perception that there will be some kind of law and order situation if the film in question, namely, Nanak Shah Fakir is released in movie halls”.

The bench had issued notice to the Centre and all the states and directed them to ensure that wherever the film is released, law and order is maintained.