The Delhi High Court on Friday sought the response of the Censor Board on a plea by the makers of banned Bollywood satirical film Mohalla Assi, starring Sunny Deol, challenging the denial of a certificate for public screening of the movie.
Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva issued notice to the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) and the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT) and sought their reply by February 6 next year on the plea of Crossword Entertainment Pvt Ltd, the producer of the film.
The movie’s producer has been asked to file a compact disc of the film with the court before the next date of hearing — February 6.
The film’s release was put on hold by a Delhi court on June 30, 2015, on the prima facie view that it hurt religious sentiments.
Crossword in its plea has challenged CBFC’s June 14, 2016, order refusing to issue a certificate for exhibiting the film and FCAT’s November 24, 2016, order asking it to make some cuts in the movie after which the tribunal would review the movie and reconsider the matter.
The central government standing counsel Manish Mohan, who appeared for CBFC and FCAT, defended the decision of the two bodies and added that affidavits would be filed stating their stand.
The film’s producer contended that the decision of CBFC and FCAT were arbitrary and violated the freedom of speech and expression granted under the Constitution.
Crossword has claimed that the film depicts social vices and that the country was going through times of turbulence.
It has contended that the “film revolves around the cultural degradation that is threatening present day Banaras and claimed that it will not create any law and order problem”.
It has argued that any deletion of scenes would negate the impact of the film.
