'Padmaavat' ban challenged in SC; hearing today

The producer of film 'Padmaavat' on Wednesday approached the Supreme Court, challenging the ban on screening the film by some states.

The top court would hear the plea on Thursday as the film, originally titled 'Padmavati', is scheduled for release on January 25.

The governments of  Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan have banned the film's screening, taking note of the protests by several groups of the Rajput community against "improper" depiction of "Queen Padmavati".

Advocate Mahesh Agarwal, appearing for   Viacom18 Motion Pictures, that produced the film, mentioned the petition before a bench presided over by Chief Justice Dipak Misra and sought urgent hearing.

Agreeing with his plea, the court directed for posting the petition before a bench on January 18.

The producer questioned the power of the state governments to ban the film when the apex court had in an earlier case clarified that screening of a film can only be suspended in a particular area if the law and order situation warranted it.

Plans afoot

The makers of the controversial film have gone ahead with their plan to release it on January 25 even though Shri Rajput Karni Sena recently gave a call for a nation-wide "public curfew in cinema halls" to block its screening.

The film directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali was cleared by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) with U/A certificate along with recommendations for "some cuts" on December 30. The apex court had earlier declined to intervene in the film's release as the CBFC had then not taken a call on it.

DH News Service