Delhi HC stays release of 'Udaipur Files', directs petitioners to approach Centre within 2 days

New Delhi, Jul 10 (PTI) The Delhi High Court on Thursday stayed the release of "Udaipur Files" movie, scheduled to hit the screens on July 11, till the Centre decides the pleas seeking its permanent ban for its potential to "promote disharmony" in society.

A division bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Anish Dayal directed the petitioners to approach the Centre within two days with their grievance.

The bench said the petitioners hadn't taken the recourse to approach the central government.

"We provide that till the application for interim relief, if made by petitioner along with revision petition, is decided by government, release of the film shall remain stayed," the bench held.

During the hearing, senior advocate Kapil Sibal urged the judges to watch the film based on tailor Kanhaiya Lal murder case, terming it "vicious" and "cinematic vandalism".

The petitions, including one filed by Maulana Arshad Madani, Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind president and principal of Darul Uloom Deoband, have claimed that a trailer of the movie released on June 26 was replete with dialogues and instances that had led to communal disharmony in 2022, and carries every potential to again stoke the same communal sentiments.

"Where is this country going? This is not right for the country. Please don't let this kind of malicious work go in public. This is certainly not art. It's cinematic vandalism. Saying in national interest, in the interest of the fraternity," Sibal said.

He submitted the producer had a history of making hateful incitements.

The bench observed the producer uploaded the trailer along with the portion that was ordered to be taken down.

It also noted the submission of additional solicitor general Chetan Sharma, representing the film certification board, that necessary action warranted under law would be taken by the Central Board of Film Certification.

The bench directed the petitioner to approach the government latest by Monday.

"Once the petitioner approaches central government by filing revision petition, same shall be considered and decided by government within one week and of course after giving opportunity to the producer," the court said.

During the hearing, the court also said that clearing film for release was experts' job, and "any judicial intervention should be very limited".

The ASG, meanwhile, told the court that the film was a work of fiction based on certain real life incidents, "with limited artistic freedom".

"It is a crime film which actually warns people that your harmony is being disturbed by someone in a foreign country. It is not community specific, it is crime specific. Whole theme is that these seeds of communal disharmony is engineered and propagated across the border by a concerted mechanism. Yesterday on the streets of Karachi, those very persons for whom Operation Sindoor was conducted, again got together under aegis of ISIS," the ASG said.

On that the court asked, "What is to do with the film?" "The film cautions people here. It is a crime film, suggests that we all should live together. That's the theme. If someone has problem with that, I have nothing to say," the ASG said.

The producer of the film added that "This is typical plot of India-Pakistan. Petitioner has taken dialogues out of context." The high court on July 9 directed the producers to arrange the screening of the movie for the petitioners.

Udaipur-based tailor Kanhaiya Lal was murdered in June 2022 allegedly by Mohammad Riyaz and Mohammad Ghous.

The assailants had later released a video claiming the murder was in reaction to the tailor allegedly sharing a social media post in support of former BJP leader Nupur Sharma after her controversial comments on Prophet Mohammed.

The case was probed by the National Investigation Agency and the accused were booked under stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), besides provisions under the Indian Penal Code.

The trial is pending before the special NIA court in Jaipur. PTI UK KVK KVK