Delhi High Court refuses to entertain plea against release of 'The Taj Story' movie

'It would be more appropriate for the petitioners to approach the government,' the bench said.

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Thursday refused to entertain a public interest litigation seeking a stay on the release of the Bollywood movie 'The Taj Story', scheduled to hit the screens on Friday.

During a brief hearing, the court of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela pointed out that the Cinematograph Act did not have any provision for review, and the prayer cannot be granted.

"Are we a super censor board? Just because you say, will we pass an order?" the bench asked.

At this, the counsel argued he was not against the exhibition of the film, but was seeking a disclaimer to be put in place that the content was not definitive history.

In response, the bench said, "It would be more appropriate for the petitioners to approach the government. The petitioners, at this juncture, pray to withdraw the petition to press before the government."

The petition had also sought a direction to the makers of the Paresh Rawal-starrer film to "clearly display, in all promotions and in the credits, a prominent disclaimer stating that the film deals with a contested narrative and does not claim to be a definitive historical account".

It further sought direction to all the state agencies to ensure that no communal incident arises from the incident.

The PIL alleged that the film was completely based on fabricated facts with a particular propaganda by casting/production/direction/writer for gaining political influence and a step to create a communal disturbance among the different communities in India, which, it claimed, was a grave violation of the public interest.