SC declines to stay Indu Sarkar release

The Supreme Court on Thursday declined to stay the scheduled release of Madhur Bhandarkar's film 'Indu Sarkar' on July 28. The flick portraying Emergency days of 1975-77 was opposed by a woman, who claimed to be the biological daughter of Sanjay Gandhi.

"We are not inclined to curtail the right of artists' to portray or dramatise historical facts," a three-judge bench presided over by Justice Dipak Misra said.

"National interest and right to know is more important than individual's reputation," the bench, also comprising Justices Amitava Roy and A M Khanwilkar, added.

The bench rejected the woman's plea that the movie is "full of concocted facts and is totally derogatory".

The court also found no legal ground for a film-maker to take prior permission for depicting any individual's character or historical facts.

Woman-petitioner Priya Singh Paul contended that the movie contained "derogatory facts" to malign the image of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

The court, however, refused to comment on petitioner's claim of being the daughter of Sanjay Gandhi.

The petitioner has challenged the July 24 order of the Bombay High Court dismissing her plea to stay the release of the movie. The high court had said that the petitioner had not made out any case for the court to interfere and stay the release of the movie after the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) already granted certificate to the movie.

The Bombay High Court had also noted that no acknowledged descendant of Sanjay Gandhi has raised an objection to the film.