'Unjustifiable consumption of judicial time': Karnataka High Court dismisses PIL against 'Jolly LLB 3' movie

Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court on Thursday dismissed a PIL seeking a direction to stall the exhibition of the film ‘Jolly LLB 3’, scheduled for release on Friday (September 19). A division bench of Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice C M Joshi also imposed a cost of Rs 50,000 on the petitioner for "unjustifiable consumption of judicial time".

“It is obvious that the depiction of the courtroom scene appears to be eyeing to appeal to the sense of humour of the audience. The depiction of the courtroom does not appeal to the sense of humour of the petitioner or this court. That is no ground to stifle creativity or issue an order for censoring the same,” the bench said.

The petitioner Syeda Neelufur, a Bengaluru-based advocate, sought action against actors of the film; Akshay Kumar, Arshad Warsi and maker Subhash Kapoor. The petitioner claimed that the trailer/teaser of the movie, available on social media platforms, has certain dialogues in a courtroom sequence which are defaming, ridiculing and mocking the judiciary.

The counsel for the petitioner read out the dialogue and prayed for a direction to the actors and makers of the film to render an unconditional apology by way of publication in prominent national newspapers. The petitioner also sought directions to investigate the matter and initiate appropriate legal action against the actors and makers of the film.

The bench orally observed, “It is a humorous movie. It is supposed to appeal to somebody's sense of humour. It may not appeal to yours and ours. That does not mean that it can be stiffened.”

The court said, “We find that such PILs unjustifiably consume judicial time, and are filed for some purpose. We accordingly dismiss the petition with a cost of Rs 50,000 to be deposited with the registry of the court. If the deposit is not made, post the matter for listing on October 4, for taking coercive steps”.