SC agrees to hear plea of ‘Udaipur Files’ producer against stay on release

New Delhi, July 14 The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to urgently hear a plea filed by the producer of the film ‘Udaipur Files’ challenging the Delhi High Court’s order, which had temporarily halted the release of the movie based on the Kanhaiya Lal murder case.

A Bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi agreed to list the matter in a day or two after senior advocate Gaurav Bhatia mentioned it for urgent hearing.

The film, slated to be released worldwide on July 11, 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 day before its release, the Delhi High Court stayed the release of the film ‘Udaipur Files’ till the Centre decides the revision plea of the petitioners challenging the grant of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) certification.

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 CBFC certification granted to the film.

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 passed on July 10, 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.

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