The Central Government has challenged the decision of the Single Judge of the High Court of Kerala ordering the screening of the movie S Durga, directed by Sanal Kumar Sasidharan, at the International Film Festival of India that got underway at Goa.
An appeal filed by the Assistant Solicitor General of India before the Division Bench of the court said the petitioner had contended that his movie, which was screened by the jury for Panorama Selection, was excluded from the list at the instance of the Central Government. The petitioner had also pointed out that exclusion was illegal and arbitrary.
The Central Government contended that the movie, though selected by the jury, had not secured the exemption as required by the panorama regulation in the absence of any certification obtained from Central Board of Film Certification.
The Additional Solicitor also contended that the High Court lacked territorial jurisdiction to consider the earlier petition.
The Single Judge assumed the jurisdiction on the basis of certification issued by the regional office, Thiruvananthapuram and held that the writ petition was maintainable and passed the impugned judgment, he contended.
The Central Government also contended that the direction to screen the movie would upset the film festival as the festival was already underway.
