Delhi HC temporarily halts release of film on Kanhaiya Lal murder case

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Thursday temporarily halted the release of the film ‘Udaipur Files’ till the Centre decides the revision plea of the petitioners challenging the grant of CBFC certification to the movie based on the Kanhaiya Lal murder case.

The film, slated to be released worldwide on Friday, revolves around the brutal murder of Kanhaiya Lal, a tailor in Rajasthan’s Udaipur, in June 2022 by Mohammad Riyaz Attari and Ghaus Mohammad by slitting his throat.

A Bench of Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyaya and Justice Anish Dayal was dealing with a batch of pleas, including a plea filed by Maulana Arshad Madani, the President of the Islamic cleric’s body Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind, seeking a direction to quash the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) certification granted to the movie.

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As per the petition filed by Maulana Arshad Madani, the CBFC certification was granted in violation of Section 5B of the Cinematograph Act, 1952 and the Guidelines for Certification of Films for Public Exhibition, since the release of the film ‘Udaipur Files’ has the potential to inflame communal tensions and disrupt public order, severely undermining the fabric of religious harmony in the country.

In its order, the Chief Justice Upadhyaya-led Bench allowed the petitioners as well as the general public to file within two days revision plea before the Union government under Section 6 of the Cinematograph Act. Section 6 vests the Centre with adequate powers to declare a film to be uncertified or pass orders providing for interim measures, including suspension of the film from public exhibition.

The Delhi HC asked the Centre to decide the revision pleas within a week after giving an opportunity of hearing to the producer. Further, it ordered that the prayer for interim relief, if made, will also be considered and decided.

In a hearing held on Wednesday, the Delhi High Court recorded Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Chetan Sharma’s statement that before the film was certified, the CBFC proposed certain cuts, and the producer of the film had implemented them.

It had asked the film’s producer to arrange for a private screening of the movie and the trailer on Wednesday itself for the counsels appearing in the matter, and posted the batch of pleas for further hearing on Thursday (July 10).

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