The Hindu : Entertainment / Cinema : Court notice to Centre, 4 States on release of non-Kannada films

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Friday, Apr 15, 2005

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Court notice to Centre, 4 States on release of non-Kannada films

Legal Correspondent

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has issued notice to the Centre, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala on a petition from the Film Producers Guild of India challenging the moratorium of seven weeks from the date of release imposed by the Karnataka Government on release of non-Kannada films in that State.

In October last, a Bench of Justice N. Santosh Hedge and Justice S. B. Sinha had already stayed the August 23, 2004 order passed by the State Government on a writ petition filed by the Gemini Film Circuit challenging its constitutional validity.

The Bench issued notice on the petition from the Guild after counsel D.K. Garg told the court that the initial petitioner, Gemini Circuit, had decided to withdraw its petition. The counsel said the Guild had filed an application seeking to implead itself in the case and also a writ petition questioning the same government order.

Following this, the Bench issued notice to the Centre and the four southern States, the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce, the Kannada Films Producers Association and the Bangalore Police Commissioner.

According to the petitioner, pursuant to the decision of the Karnataka Government, on the advice of the Film Chamber and Producers Association, unscrupulous elements in Karnataka had involved in vandalism and several picture halls exhibiting non-Kannada films had been burnt to ashes.

The petitioner submitted that there were about 5,000 cinema halls in Karnataka and only 50 Kannada films were being produced annually. More than 40 per cent of the population were non-Kannadigas, whose right to have entertainment had been denied by the State Government by the impugned order. This action amounted to censorship on viewers, producers, exhibitors and cinema hall owners.

With extensive video piracy, a film would hardly hit the screen and so a seven-week delay would kill the market. Further each distributor had to pay about Rs. 15 lakhs to Rs. 1 crore for distribution rights for a Tamil, Hindi or Malayalam film and if the audience was reduced to a trickle due to video piracy, they would not be able to recover even what they had invested, the Guild said and sought quashing of the impugned order.

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Court notice to Centre, 4 States on release of non-Kannada films