New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday cleared the decks for the nationwide release of the controversial movie ‘Padmaavat’ on January 25, staying the orders and notifications issued by Rajasthan and Gujarat governments prohibiting its screening.
A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra also restrained other states from issuing such notifications or orders banning the exhibition of the film.
The bench, also comprising Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud, observed that the states are obliged to maintain law and order.
“We direct that there shall be a stay of operation on the notification and orders issued and we also restrain other states from issuing such notifications or orders in this matter,” the bench said in its interim order.
During the hearing, the CJI observed, “the whole problem when exhibition of a film is stopped like this, my constitutional conscience shocks me”.
Senior advocates Harish Salve and Mukul Rohatgi, representing Viacom 18 and other producers of the movie, told the bench that states have no power to issue such notifications banning exhibition of a film when the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has given a certificate for its release.
The bench posted the matter for further hearing in March.
The producers had approached the top court challenging the notification and orders issued by four states – Gujarat Rajasthan, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh – prohibiting exhibition of the film.
The governments of Haryana, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan had declared that they will not allow screening of the movie which stars Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor and Ranveer Singh in lead roles.
The bench noted in its order that creative content including theatre and cinema are inseparable aspects of Right to Freedom and Expression guaranteed under the Constitution.
The producers had submitted that the movie has undergone changes including in its title as suggested by the CBFC.
Asserting that the film has been cleared by the CBFC, the plea said the states cannot impose a blanket ban on a film and its screening can be suspended in a particular area or areas on account of law and order problem, not across the states.
Politicians of all hues, including some chief ministers, recently made public statements on the film, with some of them opposing it.
