Kangana Ranaut’s ‘Emergency’ movie poster | Photo: ANI
Kangana Ranaut’s ‘Emergency’ will not release on the scheduled date of September 6 as the Bombay High Court on Wednesday refused to grant any urgent relief by directing the censor board to certify the film immediately.
A division bench comprising Justices BP Colabawalla and Firdosh Pooniwalla said it cannot grant any urgent relief at this stage in the wake of the directive issued by the Madhya Pradesh High Court directing the censor board to consider objections to the film before certifying it.
The court said that if it were not for the Madhya Pradesh High Court, it would have directed the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to issue the certificate for the film today itself.
Slated to release on September 6, the biographical drama was mired in controversy after Sikh organisations including the Shiromani Akali Dal objected, accusing it of misrepresenting the community and misinterpreting historical facts.
The film’s producer, Zee Entertainment Enterprises, had moved the Bombay High Court seeking a direction to the CBFC to issue a certificate to the film ‘Emergency’, directed by actor and MP Kangana Ranaut.
The petition claimed that the censor board had the certificate ready but was not issuing it for fear of public disturbances after the film’s release.
The court accepted the producer’s claim that the certificate was kept ready but not issued and said that once the certificate was issued online to the makers of the film, the CBFC’s claim that the certificate was not issued as it was not signed by the chairman is incorrect.
Following the HC order, Ranaut took to social media to share her views.
The Supreme Court has criticized the censor for illegally withholding the #emergency certificate, the actor wrote on X.
The court noted that if the Madhya Pradesh High Court order had not been in place, then it would have directed the CBFC to issue the certificate today itself.
We know there is more to it than that. We do not want to comment on it. The CBFC will consider the objections and take a decision by September 18, he said.
The Madhya Pradesh High Court on Tuesday heard petitions filed by Sikh groups claiming that the film contains scenes that may hurt their religious sentiments and thus cause unrest.
The CBFC said there that the film had not yet received any certification.
The Madhya Pradesh High Court then directed the censor board to consider the representation of the petitioning Sikh groups raising objections to the film before issuing the certificate to the film.
The CBFC was directed to conduct the exercise and take a decision expeditiously.
During the hearing of the petition filed by Zee Entertainment, the Bombay High Court said that while it was with the petitioner on the issue, it could not grant any relief in the wake of the Madhya Pradesh High Court order.
The Madhya Pradesh High Court has issued directions to the CBFC. If we grant any relief today, we would be in direct contravention of that order. We will ask the CBFC to disobey another order of the High Court if we pass any order today. We cannot do so. Judicial propriety demands it of us, the court said.
“Let the CBFC examine it,” the court said.
If the film is delayed by a week or two, it will make no difference. The MP HC is staring us in the face, the judges said.
We are unable to issue any order today as the Madhya Pradesh High Court has directed the CBFC to consider the objections before certifying the film, the court said.
The court said that if it ordered the CBFC to issue the certificate without considering the objections, it would effectively be asking them to disobey the order passed by another higher court.
Judicial propriety demands that such a course be avoided. We are of the view that we cannot direct the CBFC to issue the certificate sought by the petitioner at this stage, the court said.
The court ordered the censor board to consider the objections raised by the Sikh groups and certify the film by September 18.
The court added that it was its personal opinion that these groups could say that a film was offensive without even having seen it.
Our Chief Justice has said that the fact that a film may cause law and order problems is not a sufficient reason to prevent its release. That is something that the state machinery has to sort out, the court said.
Senior advocate Venkatesh Dhond, appearing for Zee Entertainment, argued that when the film was first submitted for certification, the other producer, Manikarnika Films, had received an email with a U/A certificate.
However, some amendments were subsequently requested and the paper copy of the certificate to facilitate the release of the film has not been issued since then, he said.
Senior advocate Abhinav Chandrachud, appearing for the CBFC, said the certificate was automatically generated and was not issued as the chairman was yet to sign the hard copy.
Chandrachud said that Kangana Ranaut is a Member of Parliament and is aware of what is happening in the country.
Dhond argued that while some unrest is expected, the censorship board cannot restrict creators’ freedom of expression.
The court said that such automatically generated emails issuing certificates should be stopped.
You (CBFC) must prosecute these officers for not exercising their judgment. Take action against them for not performing their duty. Put them in the dock, the HC said.
The court will hear the statement on September 19.
Ranaut, who directed and co-produced the film besides playing the lead role of late former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, earlier this week accused the CBFC of delaying the certification to push back the release.
(Only the headline and image of this report may have been reworked by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
First published: September 4, 2024 | 19:02 IS
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