No decision on film city location

LUCKNOW : A public interest litigation (PIL) challenging the film city project of the state government was quashed by the Lucknow bench of Allahabad high court after the petitioner withdrew the PIL when the government informed the court that no decision had been taken as yet on the project’s location.

The double-judge bench of Justice Rajan Roy and Justice Saurabh Lavania on Thursday quashed the petition and allowed the petitioner to again file the petition, if required.

The Kalakaar Association, Lucknow, had filed the PIL seeking stay on the proposed film city project in Noida.

Lawyer CB Pandey appeared on behalf of the petitioner and lawyer Anand Dwivedi on behalf of the union government as Noida is part of the National Capital Region. Appearing on behalf of the state government, lawyer Siddharth Dhawan and other lawyers apprised the court that as of now there was only a proposal for building the film city in Noida.

Reports have been sought regarding availability of land and other facilities, which are being examined, therefore, the writ petition at this stage is premature, said Dhawan.

Pandey stated that at this stage he would not press for the petition and sought liberty to file a fresh plea as and when, if at all, an occasion arose.

“As we have not entered into merits of the controversy in view of the statements made on behalf of state and opposite party, all pleas are open for being raised at the appropriate stage, if a cause exists,” said the court.

“In view of the statement made by CB Pandey, the petition is dismissed as withdrawn with liberty as aforesaid,” added the court.

The film city project is planned to be one of the most prestigious projects of the Yogi Adityanath government with an aim to develop Uttar Pradesh as an alternative to Bollywood based at Mumbai.