Plea against banning trailer of 'The Accidental Prime Minister' rejected

The plea, filed by Mahajan through her counsel Arun Maitri, said the trailer violated Section 416 of the Indian Penal Code as an impersonation of a living character persons is not permissible in law.

Published: 07th January 2019 05:33 PM  |   Last Updated: 08th January 2019 12:07 AM   |  A+A A-

Vijay_Ratnakar_Gutte

Actor Anupam Kher and director Vijay Ratnakar Gutte on the sets of 'The Accidental Prime Minister'. (Photo | Instagram)

By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Monday refused to hear a petition seeking to suspend the trailer of the movie "The Accidental Prime Minister" and asked the petitioner to file it as a public interest litigation.

Disposing of the plea, filed by petitioner Pooja Mahajan in her personal capacity, Justice Vibhu Bakhru said that she had not examined the controversy raised in the petition, which alleged that provisions of the Cinematograph Act were being misused and the film producer had released the trailer harming the image of the office of the prime minister.

The film, starring Anupam Kher as Manmohan Singh, is based on a book of the same name by Sanjaya Baru, the former prime minister's media advisor.

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The court noted that Mahajan had stated in her petition that she had no personal interest in the issue.

"The counsel for respondents state that the petition is in the nature of public interest and it be filed as a PIL," the court said.

It said it would be open for the petitioner to file a PIL.

The court also said a PIL is heard by a division bench and not by a single judge.

The plea, filed through advocate A Maitri, alleged that the trailer of the film, which is scheduled for release on January 11, defamed the Constitutional post of the prime minister.

It had listed the Centre, through the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, the Central Board of Film Certification, Google (India) and YouTube as parties.

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According to the petition, the "post of prime minister is getting defamed on day-to-day basis in public domain before the public at large" because of the trailer.

It added that the disclaimer in the movie's trailer said it was based on the book by Baru, but the "real facts are totally different. In fact, the disclaimer given in the trailer is untrue, false and fake".

"By performing the character of Manmohan Singh (ex-PM), Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, the performing actors/ artists have committed offences punishable under sections 416 (cheating by impersonation) of the IPC and therefore, the CBFC could not have given the certificate for screening/ exhibition of the film," it said.