HC rejects ‘misconceived’ petition against Padmavati
LEGALLY SPEAKING Delhi high court terms the plea by Akhand Rashtrawadi Party ‘hopeless’, says such petitions would encourage people who are agitating
The Delhi high court on Friday dismissed a petition seeking to constitute an expert panel consisting of historians and social activists before the release of the film Padmavati, observing that such pleas were encouraging those agitating against the movie.
“Have you (counsel for the petitioner) seen the film? Have the people, who are burning cinema halls, seen the film? By this kind of petitions you are encouraging the people who are agitating,” a bench of acting chief justice Gita Mittal and justice C Hari Shankar remarked.
The bench termed as “hopeless” and “misconceived” the petition by Akhand Rashtrawadi Party, which claims to be a political party. The petitioner sought a committee to be set up before the film is released to check if there was any distortion of history. The Sanjay Leela Bhansali-directed Padmavati stars Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh and Shahid Kapoor.
The petition sought that the panel be formed before the release of the film “to ensure no distortion with Indian history in respect of Rani Padmavati of Chittorgarh so that sentiments of citizen of India or Hindus/Rajputs etc will not be hurt”. It said the committee should be headed by a retired Delhi HC judge with
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Censor Board members. “Petitioner has come to know from some reliable sources that the movie portrayed the imaginary or fictitious character of Rani Padmavati and there is distortion of historic facts about Rani Padmavati of Chittorgarh. No individual or a group has any right to play with the sentiments or emotions of any caste or community by distorting Indian history or historic icon,” the plea read.
Instead, the bench directed the party to approach the Censor Board, saying it was not inclined to entertain the plea. It said, “The matter is pending consideration before the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). Similar reliefs have been declined by the Supreme Court as well. This petition is nothing but hopeless and misconceived.” Recently, the SC had refused to entertain a plea seeking a stay on the release of film, saying the Censor Board was yet to certify the movie.
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