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Synopsis

The Bombay High Court on Thursday asked if the Central Board of Film Certification was acting at the behest of the ruling party and if the ruling party (BJP) was acting against its own Member of Parliament Kangana Ranaut. 

The division bench of the high court, comprising Justice B.P. Colabawalla and Justice Firdosh Pooniwalla, was hearing a petition filed by Zee Studios, claiming that the CBFC had arbitrarily withheld the censor certificate after issuing it.

During the hearing, the bench asked about the political angle for withholding the censor certificate for the movie, to which Senior Advocate Venkatesh Dhond, appearing for Zee Studios, responded and said that the ruling party wanted to delay the movie until the elections in Haryana were over, as people from the Sikh community had objected to the trailer.

“Let me assume that this movie is perceived by members of the Sikh community as Anti Sikh. They don’t want it to be telecasted. Who is responsible? The board is executive. If I am a voter then I will think that the party in power allowed the release,” said Dhond.

The bench then questioned whether the ruling party was acting against its own MP, “Are you saying this is at the behest of the ruling party? Basically, the ruling party is against its own MP,” the court remarked.

Dr Abhinav Chandrachud, appearing for CBFC, submitted that the CBFC had also received representations from Punjab and Maharashtra.

Chandrachud further submitted that the matter was referred to the revising committee, which was in the process of deciding on the movie.

The bench directed that the revising committee should decide and communicate its decision to Zee Studios and the court by September 25.

During the earlier hearings, the bench had directed the CBFC to consider the representation and take a decision on releasing the censor certificate for the movie 'Emergency' by September 18.