The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Pune-based Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) to allow colour-blind candidates pursue filmmaking and editing courses, saying “art is non-conformist” and a “liberal thought process should not be put in a conformist box”.
A Bench led by Justice S.K. Kaul and M.M Sundresh said a premier institute such as the FTII should change its perceptions. Colour-blindness is merely a deficiency and not blindness.
Appeal against HC order
The order came on an appeal filed by Patna resident Ashutosh Kumar challenging the order of the Bombay High Court which rejected his plea seeking admission to a three-year postgraduate diploma course in film editing at the FTII.
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The top court passed the order after taking into account the majority view of a seven-member committee, which was appointed by it to examine the issue.
“The conclusion shows a clear recommendation that all individuals will be allowed for all courses at the FTII. Any limitation can be overcome. The FTII should make accommodation in its curriculum for candidates with colour-blindness and the colour grading module in existing diploma and film editing course curriculum should be excluded or made elective,” the Bench said.
The committee comprised film director Ravi K Chandran, colourist Swapnil Patole, script supervisor Shubha Ramachandra, film editor Akkineni Sreekar Prasad, course creator Rajasekharan, ophthalmologist Jignesh Taswala and advocate Shoeb Alam.
While commending the efforts and the report of the committee, the Bench remarked that, “It is much easier to change laws than to change mindsets. It takes a long time to change the mindset and therefore the judiciary has to sometimes give impetus to change the mindset”.
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