The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court, hearing the application to ban Adipurush, has summoned its director, Om Raut, producer, Bhushan Kumar, and dialogue writer, Manoj Muntashir Shukla, on the next date of hearing, July 27. It has also directed the central government to form a five-member panel within a week to vet the film’s content and report to the court in 15 days.
The vacation bench of Justices Rajesh Singh Chauhan and Shree Prakash Singh ordered that the committee should include two experts on Valmiki’s Ramayan and the Ramcharitmanas and other religious epics. The details of the order, issued on June 28, were uploaded on the court’s website on June 30.
The high court said, the panel must see whether the depiction of the story of Ramayan and the characters of Lord Ram, Sita, Lord Hanuman, Ravan etc. were in conformity with Valmiki’s Ramayan and other epics. The bench specifically mentioned the portrayal of Sita and wife of Vibhishan.
The plea to ban the controversial film was made by two social activists.