Legal Correspondent
Right to speech, expression being trampled upon: producer
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday extended its stay on the orders passed by Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Uttarakhand banning the screening of “Jodhaa Akbar.”
The stay extension came on a petition filed by the producer, UTV Software Communication, after hearing its counsel Ashok Desai, and counsel Altaf Ahmed, appearing for the Rajput community, seeking to intervene in the matter. A Bench, comprising Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justice R.V. Raveendran, issued notice to the producer on the intervening application.
UTV Software Communication alleged that the film was banned by Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Uttarakhand governments after a section of the people objected to the alleged wrong depiction of some historical characters in the film. The ban in Madhya Pradesh was lifted by the High Court.
The petitioner said, “the fundamental right to speech and expression is being trampled upon by various State governments with the sole objective of gaining political mileage by banning the film. All approvals were obtained from the authorities, including the Censor Board, before releasing the film.”
Financial loss
The petitioner said the ban was causing a financial loss as about Rs. 41 crore was spent on making the film and an additional Rs. 4 crore on publicity. Apprehending that other States may also go in for a similar ban, the producer wanted a direction to quash the ban already imposed through executive orders.
