The Bombay High Court on Thursday said creative freedom and the freedom of expression cannot be curtailed and the censor board cannot refuse to certify a film just because there is an apprehension of a law and order problem.
Aggrieved by Central Board of Film Certification for not taking a decision on issuance of certificate to the film "Emergency" starring Kangana Ranaut, a division bench of Justices B P Colabawalla and Firdosh Pooniwalla directed to pass such order by September 25. Questioning whether the people of the country are so gullible to believe everything that comes in the movie, the bench remarked.
Referring to the contention of the petitioner that CBFC was delaying the issuance of certificate to the movie for politically motivated reasons, the HC notes that the co-producer of the film Ranaut herself is a sitting BJP parliamentarian and asked if it is so, does it mean that the ruling party is working against one of its Members of Parliament?. Ranaut, who has herself produced and co-produced the film besides playing the lead role of former prime minister late Indira Gandhi, accused the CBFC of stalling certification to delay the release.
The bench observed, "You have to take a decision one way or the other. You must have the guts to say that this film cannot be released. At least then we would appreciate your guts and boldness. We don't want the CBFC to sit on the fence."
The court was hearing a petition filed by Zee Entertainment Enterprises, which sought a direction to the CBFC to issue a certificate for the film "Emergency".
So, what was supposed to be a September 6 release for theatres has now become embroiled in controversy after Sikh organisations, including Shiromani Akali Dal, accused the film of falsifying community members and getting historical facts wrong.
The HC earlier this month refused to grant any urgent relief by directing the censor board to certify the movie immediately.
The court had said it cannot grant any urgent relief at this stage in wake of the directive issued by the Madhya Pradesh HC asking the censor board to consider objections to the movie before certifying it.
The bench then directed the censor board to take its decision on issuance of the certificate to the film by September 18.
On Thursday, appearing for the CBFC, senior counsel Abhinav Chandrachud told the court that the board's chairman has referred the movie to the revising committee for the final decision.
Chandrachud said that there was an element of apprehension of public disorder.
Senior counsel Venkatesh Dhond, appearing for Zee Entertainment, argued this was but a tactic to gain time and deny the movie's release before October, in which Haryana is scheduled to hold its elections.
The bench observed that "there was non-compliance with the order passed earlier by this court" and "they have just buck-passed between two departments.".
The HC said that the whole exercise by the censor board had to be over by September 18.
It was not for the CBFC to arrive at a conclusion that there may be a law and order problem and hence a movie cannot be certified, it said.
"This has to stop. Otherwise we are completely curtailing creative freedom and freedom of expression by doing all this," the HC said.
"Does the CBFC think the public in this country is so naive and stupid to believe everything they see in films? What about creative freedom?" it asked.
The court went on to wonder what made people so sensitive towards what is being shown in movies.
"We don't see why people are so sensitive. My community is made fun of all the time in movies. We don't say anything. We just laugh and move on," Justice Colabawalla said in a lighter vein.
While Chandrachud sought two weeks' time, the court said the decision has to be taken by September 25.
Dhond argued the movie was not being issued a certificate due to political reasons.
The bench, which raised doubts over the political motives of the plea, inquired whether the petitioner was claiming that the ruling party itself was against Ranaut, who is the co-producer of the film and also a BJP Lok Sabha member.
"The co-producer herself is a BJP MP. She is also part of the ruling party. So you are saying her own party is against its member?", the court asked.
Dhond said the ruling party was so anxious to placate a particular section of society that it was ready to annoy a sitting parliamentarian.
The plea filed by Zee Entertainment claimed that the CBFC had already issued the certificate to the movie but was not issuing it.
Read also| New Chilling Threat to Salman Khan's Father: 'Should I Send Lawrence Bishnoi?'
Read also| Kangana Ranaut Reveals Selling Mumbai Property After 'Emergency' Was Postponed
