A petition was filed in the Supreme Court on Wednesday against a Delhi High Court order declining to stay the release of the trailer of the film The Accidental Prime Minister, based on a book about the tenure of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The film, an adaptation of the former PM’s media adviser Sanjaya Baru’s book, is scheduled to release on January 11.
The petitioner, Pooja Mahajan, has sought stay on exhibition of trailer of the film on YouTube, and to suspend the release and exhibition of the movie during pendency of the matter.
The plea, filed through advocate A. Maitri, has claimed that “at present if the film is allowed to be released then it will cause unaccountable damage to the name and fame of the office of Prime Minster of India”.
It alleged that the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) should not have given certification to the film as actors have performed the “character of public personalities” like Manmohan Singh, Congress president Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi, which constitutes impersonation.
“It is a known fact that film producers have not taken any consent/permission from Dr. Singh, Ms. Gandhi and Mr. Gandhi to perform their characters or to perform their political life or to dress up in the same way as they had been doing in their normal life or to copy their voice in any manner,” the plea said.
The plea also alleged that if the film will be released, friendly relations with the United Sates and other foreign states are likely to be affected. “The release of film is likely to cause unaccountable damage to high profile public personalities, i.e., Dr. Singh and Ms. Gandhi,” it claimed, adding, “it seems that film has been produced in a selected manner and it clearly shows that it’s a political propaganda with some other motives”.
The petition has made the Centre, through the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), Google (India) and YouTube parties in the case.
Earlier in the day, the Delhi High Court dismissed the plea saying the petitioner, a Delhi-based fashion designer, has no locus to approach the court against the film through the public interest litigation (PIL) route.
She moved the Supreme Court later on Wedneday challenging the High Court order. The plea is likely to be heard on Thursday.
During the hearing before the High Court, the film’s producers said they were not made party in the petition and the court should not pass any order without hearing them. A single judge had earlier this week refused to entertain the plea asking Ms. Mahajan to file it as a PIL.
According to the plea, the disclaimer in the trailer says it is based on a book written by Mr. Baru but the “real facts are totally different”.
(With inputs from
Staff Reporter)