The Madras High Court on Friday dismissed a writ petition seeking a direction to the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) not to issue certification for the film ‘Ponnar Sankar' (based on a book by Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi), without removing the “offensive” contents.
In his petition, M. Loganathan of Coimbatore stated that promotional photos and trailer of the movie being published in dailies, magazines and internet, contained “several explicit and indecent exposure and depictions, which are not part of the original story but have been included in the picture.”
He had sent a representation dated March 22 to the CBFC explaining that the movie had distorted the original story of Lord Annamar Samy in a distasteful manner. The film, based on the life of Lord Annamar Samy, was far from the truth. It offended the sentiments of the Kongu community, which worshipped Lord Annamar Samy.
In his order, Justice P. Jyothimani stated that the relief sought for, on the face of it, was misconceived. If the petitioner was aggrieved by the offensive contents in the story, based on which the film had been produced, he ought not to have invoked the jurisdiction of the High Court under Art.226 of the Constitution. This court, under the provision, could not direct the CBFC to consider the petitioner's representation before issuing certification.
In any event, the dispute raised by the petitioner required evidence to be adduced before the competent court. Granting liberty to the petitioner to work out the remedy before the appropriate forum, Mr. Justice Jyothimani dismissed the petition.
