DELHI HC DENIES URGENT HEARING OF PIL SEEKING BAN ON ‘ADIPURUSH’ | 22 June, 2023

The Delhi high court on June 21 denied urgent hearing on a PIL seeking a ban on Adipurush, and asked the petitioner to “come back on June 30”, the date on which the matter is listed to be taken up. Hindu Sena’s national president, Vishnu Gupta, who is the petitioner, submitted that the film had several controversial scenes and it was affecting India’s relations with Nepal and other countries.

The petition said that the Hindus had a particular view of the images of Lord Ram, Sita and Hanuman, and any tampering of their image was a violation of the fundamental rights of the devotees. It added that the portrayal of the religious characters in the film was an “absolute insult to Hindu religious figures”. It amounted to “violation of freedom of conscience and practice in as much as freedom to manage religious affairs as guaranteed under Article 26, which is also violated”.