SC to hear plea against Modi biopic on April 26

The Supreme Court on Monday decided to consider on April 26 a plea challenging the ban on release of the movie, PM Narendra Modi, a biopic on the incumbent prime minister, after the Election Commission submitted its report in a sealed cover on Monday.

A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, and Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna took into record the report filed in a sealed cover by the poll panel after watching the movie. The court ordered that the copy of the EC's report be furnished to the film producer Sandeep Vinod Kumar Singh, on a request by his counsel senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi.

Hearing the writ petition filed by Singh, the court had earlier asked the EC to reconsider its decision after watching the movie and give its report.

Producers of PM Narendra Modi contended that the EC's order violated their fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression.

The EC had barred screenings of political films, which could disturb the level-playing field during the elections. PM Narendra Modi is a Hindi film with celebrity actor Vivek Oberoi playing the role of the incumbent prime minister.