Kolkata, Aug 29 Decks have been cleared for the release of the much-talked-about movie “The Diary of West Bengal” as the Calcutta High Court on Thursday refused to put a stay on its release in the state.
The movie, directed by Sanoj Mishra and depicting events around the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, was supposed to be released on Friday. However, Rajiv Kumar Jha filed a public interest litigation before the division bench of the high court’s Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharya seeking a stay on the release on grounds that the screening of the movie could hamper the ambience of communal harmony in the state.
During the previous hearing on Monday, the bench questioned the petitioner whether he had seen the movie. When the petitioner replied in negative, the bench observed that the release of any movie cannot be stayed in such a manner on the basis of assumptions.
The bench also observed that if the petitioner finds anything objectionable in the movie after its release, he could approach the court objecting to the relevant portions. It also noted that courts in the past had held anyone willing to watch a movie could watch it and those not willing may not.
In May last year, after the release of the trailer of the movie on YouTube, Kolkata Police summoned the director for questioning, following a complaint at Amherst Street Police station alleging that the movie seemed to have been made as a deliberate attempt to malign the image of West Bengal.
Last year, the West Bengal government also drew criticism over its ban on the screening of “The Kerala Story” in the state, on the grounds that the contents of the movie have elements that can hamper the air of communal harmony in the state. Its director Subrata Sen moved the Supreme Court against the ban and the apex court finally ordered it to be lifted. The state government faced large-scale criticism from the opposition parties, civil society, intellectuals and celebrities for imposing the ban.
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