Amid 'Padmavati' stir, SC says filmmakers, writers should be allowed freedom of speech and expression

NEW DELHI: Amid nationwide protests for a ban on Padmavati and a threat to chop off heroine Deepika Padukone’s nose, the Supreme Court on Thursday batted for creative freedom and independence of authors, filmmakers and dramatists, but in the context of a film on Arvind Kejriwal.

A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra refused to stay the release of An Insignificant Man, the film on the Delhi Chief Minister, and asked the judiciary to go slow on stopping the release of a film, drama, book or novel.

“Artists, authors, filmmakers and dramatists enjoy the right to freedom of expression, which cannot be challenged by others whimsically,” the bench said.

“Courts should be extremely slow in passing restrain order” as there cannot be curbs on the freedom of speech and expression, it added, rejecting Nachiketa Walhakar’s petition to stay the release of the film.
The film on Kejriwal is set to be screened in cinema halls on Friday as scheduled.

In its order, the court said: “A film or a drama or a novel or a book is a creation of art. An artist has his own freedom to express himself in a manner which is not prohibited in law and such prohibitions are not read by implication to crucify the rights of expressive mind.”