New Delhi, Delhi, India
In a massive relief to the makers of âPM Narendra Modiâ biopic, the Supreme Court of India today refused to intervene in the release of the film.
A petition was filed in the court to stall the release of the film during the general elections in the country.
To this, a bench led by the Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi said the Court cannot step in unless it was clear about what the film was âseeking to depictâ and what petitioner Aman Panwar, a Congress activist, is objecting to about the movie.
Gogoi asked senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who represents Panwar, âWe have not seen the film. We do not know the contents of the film. How can we order anything without knowing what we are ordering about?â asks CJI Ranjan Gogoi.
Supreme Court dismisses a plea seeking stay on release of Vivek Oberoi starrer biopic 'PM Narendra Modi'. The Bench says the film has not yet been issued the certificate by Censor Board. Court says it is to be decided by the EC whether the movie can violate Model Code of Conduct. pic.twitter.com/UA2pU90wfz
â ANI (@ANI) April 9, 2019
Singhvi submitted in Supreme Court, âsong released in the movie is exactly the same as that of BJPâs 2014 election campaign. The anthem of the BJP are being tweeted about. Trailer begins with an enthusiastic kid saying âyeh chai wala PM banega. Lyricist of the film incidentally is the CBFC chairman. This is about level playing field and electoral integrity.â
However, the bench dismissed the plea and said that the Election Commission of India. will decide on the issue. Top court said it was premature for the court to decide on the issue as the film is yet to be released and hasnât been awarded certification by the CBFC.
The film was initially scheduled to release on April 5 but was postponed indefinitely. The makers are yet to announce the release date.
Meanwhile, speaking about the petition, the film's lead actor Vivek Oberoi said that to be labelled, targetted, attacked is painful. "It's a passion project, something thatâs taken an entire team to put this together at this scale. But then to meet this resistance, to be labelled, targetted, attacked - its painful. I didnât think that a simple, humble movie would intimidate powerful and important people that they would go all out to get it to shut down. When the High Court supported us on this, they took it to it the honourable Supreme Court," he told WION.