HC dismisses plea to stay Modi biopic till results

The Delhi High Court on Monday dismissed a petition seeking stay on the release of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's biopic till the general election results are out.

A bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice A J Bhambhani refused to entertain the Public Interest Litigation which had also sought to the Election Commission of India to act against the alleged violation of the model code of conduct by the makers of the movie.

"We are not going to interfere with it. You go to the censor board or the Election Commission (EC)," the bench said while dismissing the plea.

The petitioner, a lawyer by profession, sought a direction to the producers of the movie to postpone the release till the declaration of results of the Lok Sabha polls.

The movie, "PM Narendra Modi", is scheduled to hit the theatres on April 5.

Petitioner Sujeet Kumar Singh said in the plea that according to the election schedule announced by the EC on March 10, the voting will taken place in seven phases between April 11 and May 19 and with the announcement, the model code of conduct has come into force.

It said the release of this biopic during the election time can be seen as nothing but a campaign strategy and will influence the voting pattern.

"The said film, if released for public during the period when the model code of conduct is in operation and moreover just a week before the 17th Lok Sabha election, could have a great impact on voters and that can even be seen as campaign material to be used before voting when the official publicity is banned," the plea claimed.

It added that the film's release with this title is a "clear violation" of the model code of conduct and the movie's title is same as the name of the contesting candidate for the upcoming general election from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.