[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Madras high court dismissed a PIL that had sought revocation of censor certificate for the film that had mocked the Goods and Services Tax regime

In a major relief to the controversy-embroiled Tamil blockbuster Mersal, the Madras High Court, on Friday, dismissed a public interest litigation that had sought directions to the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to revoke the censor certificate issued to the movie for its “anti GST”  dialogues and held that “freedom of expression…applies to films as well”.

A Bench of Justices MM. Sundresh and M Sundar refused to entertain the PIL filed by Chennai-based lawyer A Ashvathaman on the ground that in a mature democracy, the voices of the minority cannot be stifled. The judges said that it was ultimately for the viewers to take a call on the contents of a movie.

Ashvathaman had, during arguments in the case, asked the court to revoke the censor certificate issued to Mersal while questioning how the film certification board had cleared the movie for public exhibition “even though the film was full of wrong propaganda about the country and contained fake dialogues and scenes which would lead to misconception about our new taxation system.”

“The story of the film does not demand the above said scenes and dialogues which contained fake and fabricated particulars… The CBFC is duty-bound to see that the young and impressionable minds are guarded against subtle machinations of pseudo artists and producers as the youngsters try to emulate what they have seen in the movies,” the petitioner had argued.

However, the court took a dim view of Ashvathaman’s contention and noted: “if the petitioner was really concerned about the public and society then he would have tackled issues such as untouchability and women’s safety. Instead the petitioner chose to go after a movie.”

The Bench, in its order, said: “Why was there no complaint against smoking and drinking in films or about the projection of LGBT? A film is only an imaginative story and it is not real life. If someone doesn’t like a film, a person can refrain from viewing it.”

While the petitioner had argued that the film was “spreading propaganda” about a decision taken by the Centre, the court reportedly noted that Opposition leaders till date were criticising demonetisation, the controversial decision taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 8, 2016 which had flushed out 86 per cent of the currency in circulation from the economy. The court asked whether people should be gagged for expressing their views.

Referring to the Opposition’s ongoing criticism of demonetisation and juxtaposing it with Mersal’s anti-GST dialogues, the Bench said: “Can the court pass a gag order against him (an Opposition leader) from making such statements? This is democracy, and people have their right to freedom of expression, and this applies to films as well.”

Mersal, an Atlee Kumar directorial which stars Tamil actor Vijay, has been facing criticism from the BJP’s Tamil Nadu unit for depicting scenes which criticize the GST regime as well as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Digital India initiative.

The Madras High Court’s order came on a day when another row over the delay in the censor clearance for the Telugu version of the film was being attributed to alleged pressure from the BJP government at the Centre on the Censor board to ensure that the anti-GST references are omitted from the dubbed version of the movie.

However, soon after the Madras high court’s order, Censor board chief Prasoon Joshi declared that the movie’s Telugu version had been cleared “without cuts” even as he rued the fact that the reported delay in the dubbed version’s censor certification was being “unnecessarily sensationalized”.

“The process of approving a dubbed version of a film is the same as certifying a film for the first time. The CBFC website mentions very clearly how much time each part of the certification process takes. So far, the filmmakers had not received any communication about the Telugu certification, so how can they accuse us of delaying the release of their film? This is not done. The film certificate has been issued for the Telugu dubbed version without any cuts,” Joshi said on Friday.

The censor Board chief added: “I am surprised with the accusations on the CBFC for the delay. It’s a usual process which is getting unfairly and unnecessarily sensationalized”.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]