The Bombay High Court on Wednesday refused to grant urgent relief to Kangana Ranaut starter 'Emergency' movie thereby delaying the release of the movie by at least two weeks.
Observation Made By The Court
The court said it was unable to pass directions at present stage to the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to release the certificate granted to the movie in the light of the order by the Madhya Pradesh High Court on Tuesday asking the censor board to consider objections to the movie before releasing the certificate.
“If we were to direct CBFC to issue certification without considering those objections we would effectively be directing CBFC to breach directions of another court. Judicial propriety demands that such a course should always be avoided,” a bench of Justices BP Colabawalla and Firdosh Pooniwalla said.
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The film was scheduled to release on September 6 but will be delayed by two weeks as the high court has directed the censor board to consider the objections raised against the film and then certify it by September 18.
About The Plea
The HC was hearing a plea filed by film’s producer Zee Entertainment Enterprises against the CBFC for allegedly illegally and arbitrarily withholding the certificate granted to the film.
Zee’s Counsel Venkatesh Dhond submitted that there was no reason for CBFC to withhold the certificate already issued. He said as per the Cinematograph Act, people aggrieved by the movie have legal remedies available and the law.
Whereas, CBFC counsel Abhinav Chandrachud submitted that the certificate is not considered issued until it is signed by its chairperson, therefore the email-generated certificate would make no difference. He said that the certification process is ongoing in view of comprehensive representations received from certain groups as directed by the Madhya Pradesh HC.
The bench Remarked that once the certificate was issued online to the makers of the film, the CBFC's contention that the certificate was not issued as it was not signed by the chairperson is incorrect.
The judges remarked that they would have directed the CBFC to issue the certificate on Wednesday itself had there not been an order from the Madhya Pradesh HC. “There is something going on behind the scenes in this. Let us not get into this. If the Madhya Pradesh HC order was not there we would have asked you (CBFC) to issue a certificate today. Therefore we are setting a Timeline,” the bench said.
Madhya Pradesh HC Hears Petition Filed By Sikh Groups
The Madhya Pradesh HC, on Tuesday, heard petitions filed by Sikh groups contending that certain scenes in the movie may hurt their religious sentiments and hence may cause unrest. The Madhya Pradesh HC then directed the petitioners to make a representation to the CBFC within three days and asked the censor board to consider the same expeditiously.
On Wednesday, the Bombay HC on Wednesday said that while it was with the petitioner on the issue it cannot grant any relief in the wake of the order passed by the Madhya Pradesh HC. It then directed the censor board to complete the exercise by September 18 and kept the plea for hearing on September 19.
