New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday declined to hear a plea by Punjab-based NGO Human Rights Awareness Association to halt the screening of the film Udta Punjab and asked it to approach the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
Earlier in the day, a vacation bench of Justices Adarsh Kumar Goel and L. Nageswara Rao said it would hear the plea at the end of matters listed for the day.
“We will hear the matter at the end of the board and see if we can entertain the plea in the absence of the June 14 Bombay High Court judgement directing the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to issue an ‘A’ certificate to the film with just one cut,” the bench said.
Appearing for he movie’s producer, Phantom Films, senior counsel Meenakshi Arora said the CBFC had given the certificate and the film was released overseas. The film was scheduled for release across 8,000 screens countrywide on Friday.
On June 13, the Bombay High Court had cleared the decks for the release of 'Udta Punjab' after ordering deleting of a urination scene and displaying a revised disclaimer as per which the makers would have to delete reference to Pakistan.
The Bombay High Court had also directed the film-maker to make additions to the disclaimer to the effect that the movie, its characters and the film-makers do not promote the use of drugs and abusive language, and the film is only attempting to depict the reality of drug abuse.
In the Bombay High Court, Anurag Kashyap's Phantom Films had challenged the Central Board for Film Certification (CBFC) revising committee's order of June 6 directing for a total of 13 changes in the movie.
The Shahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Kareena Kapoor Khan and Diljit Dosanjh starrer delves into how a large number of youth in Punjab have succumbed to drugs.
