Every citizen cannot become a ‘super censor board’ petitioning the court against a film through public interest litigation (PIL), the Madras High Court observed on Wednesday.
The First Bench, comprising Chief Justice S.K. Kaul and Justice M. Sathyanarayanan, made the observation while passing orders on a PIL relating to the Dhanush-starrer ‘Velaiyilla Pattathari’.
The petitioner, S. Cyril Alexander, State convenor, Tamil Nadu People’s Forum for Tobacco Control, Chennai, said the film’s advertisement banners carried the picture of the lead actor smoking, prominently. This violated the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulations of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, he said.
The petitioner added that the mandatory disclaimer on the ill-effects of using tobacco was absent in the beginning and middle of the film.
He submitted representations to the State-level committee which monitored violations under the Act. As no action was taken, he filed the present petition for a direction to the Tamil Nadu government to prosecute Wunderbar Films, the producer, for the violations. The Centre should be directed to take action against the Central Board of Film Certification for dereliction of duty, he said.
The Bench said it was not inclined to entertain the petition.
