Tribunal dismisses CBFC demands on Kejri documentary

The Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT) has ordered the granting of a U/A certificate to a documentary which portrays the rise of the Aam Aadmi Party under the leadership of its convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

In its order, the tribunal, headed by Justice Manmohan Sarin, observed that the Central Board of Film Certification's (CBFC) insistence on no-objection certificates (NoCs) from political personages and others as a pre-condition for certification of the documentary was "wholly unsustainable and not permissible at law."

The FCAT said such a requirement would cull documentary filmmaking and would make it impossible to make documentaries on political topics.

The tribunal was hearing an appeal filed by the maker of the documentary Yeh Jantantra Hai: An Insignificant Man. Other than the NOCs demanded from the BJP and the Congress, the censor board also sought certain cuts.

When the CBFC had issued the order, it was headed by Pahlaj Nihalani.

The FCAT said that asking a filmmaker to obtain NOCs from the affected parties or characters in the film to whom references are made was “tantamount to CBFC abdicating its statutory functions.”