SC tells FTII to adopt liberal view; grant admission to colour blind people

The Supreme Court on Tuesday told the Pune-based Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) to adopt a more inclusive and progressive approach and allow candidates suffering from colour blindness to pursue all courses on filmmaking and editing.

"It is much easier to change laws, but it takes a long time to change the mindset. There are some vested interests always, change is difficult and a push is required to change," a bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and M M Sundresh said.

The bench stressed the institute should adopt a more inclusive and progressive approach to the matter and should ensure no discrimination on the basis of colour blindness to get admission to the institute.

"The FTII was expected to encourage liberal thought process," the bench said, adding it is not for the institute to determine candidates’ future occupational prospects.

The order came on an appeal filed by Patna resident Ashutosh Kumar against the Bombay High Court order, which declined to entertain his plea seeking admission in a three-year post-graduate diploma course in film editing at FTII as he was found colour blind.

In December last year, the top court had formed a committee of experts on the issue. The committee comprises National Film Award-winning film editor Akkineni Sreekar Prasad, Filmfare Award winner director and cinematographer Ravi K Chandran, well-known colourist Swapnil Patole, script supervisor Shubha Ramachandra, FTII’s head of department (editing) Rajasekharan, ophthalmologist Jignesh Taswala, and advocate Shoeb Alam. The committee recommended individuals with colour blindness should be able to enrol for all courses at FTII.

The court said as film and TV creations are collaborating art forms, imposing restrictions may stifle creative talent, and the development of art.