Bombay High Court dismisses plea opposing release of ‘Kedarnath’

MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court dismissed Thursday a PIL opposing the release of Bollywood film "Kedarnath" for allegedly hurting religious sentiments and "lowering the dignity" of the eponymous deity.

The film, starring Sushant Singh Rajput and Sara Ali Khan in the lead, is set to release on Friday.

A bench of Chief Justice Naresh Patil and Justice M S Karnik heard all parties at length but dismissed the public interest litigation (PIL), noting that it was not maintainable.

The petition, filed by two local lawyers Prabhakar Tripathi and Rameshchandra Mishra, claimed that the film, set in the backdrop of the 2013 Uttarakhand floods, dilutes the gravity of the calamity and hurt their religious sentiments.

"The storyline is imaginary and the movie is an untrustworthy story of love between a Hindu Brahmin girl and a Muslim boy connected with the natural disaster of Uttarakhand that took the lives of several Hindu pilgrims," the petitioners said.

They claimed that the film "lowered the dignity of Lord Kedarnath".

The PIL was opposed by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) and the film's producers.

Appearing for the film's producers, senior advocate P Dakhepalkar told the bench that the movie was just a love story that used Kedarnath as its setting.