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Synopsis

A Public Interest Litigation plea has been filed before the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court seeking stay on release of the movie Adipurush.

"The teaser or promo of the film is so atrocious, wicked and diabolical that it along with the pursuant movie which is to be released on 12 January 2023 should be out rightly banned in its present form in the interest of religious feelings, sentiments and aspirations of Hindus," the plea states.

The bench of Justices Ramesh Sinha and Justice Renu Agarwal today heard the matter briefly and ordered it to be listed after two weeks for further consideration.

Advocate Ranjana Agnihotri appeared on behalf of the petitioners and Adv Ashwani Kumar Singh appeared for Union of India. 

Apart form the stay on release of the movie, the plea filed by one Kuldeep Tiwari and another, also seeks direction that the trailer of film Adipurush is not exhibited in any manner in public or social media in violation of Rule 58 of Cinematograph (Certification) Rules 1983.

It alleges that the trailer of the movie is clumsy and indecent hurting sentiments of Hindus. It claims that the trailer shows the ill intentions of the movie makers. 

"The teaser or promo of the film is so atrocious, wicked and diabolical that it along with the pursuant movie which is to be released on 12 January 2023 should be out rightly banned in its present form in the of religious feelings, sentiments and aspirations of Hindus," the plea reads.

It further contends that the Board of file Certification is bound to protect the rights of the devotees of Ramayan, Lord Rama, Lord Hanuman and Maa Sita, and to ensure that the film does not offend the sentiments of the public in any manner.

The film Adipush has not been granted certificate by the board under section 5A/5B of the Act 1952 but the teaser of film was released on 2 October 2022 on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti. And the film is going to be released on 12 January 2023, the plea further alleges.

As per the plea, the film is based on great epic Ramayan written by Maharishi Valmiki who was contemparery to MahaRaja Dusharath. The plea claims that the dicption in the trailer is totally perverse imagination of producer/director and thus malicious contradictory and highly derogatory.

The plea also seeks direction to the state authorities to take suitable action against the producer, director and actors of the movie. 

Case Title: Kuldeep Tiwari and Another v. Union of India and others