In the ongoing hearing on the application to ban Adipurush, the Allahabad high court today (June 28) directed the I & B ministry and the CBFC to submit personal affidavits in response to pleas against the exhibition of the film. A bench of Justices Rajesh Singh Chauhan and Shree Prakash Singh urged filmmakers to not make films on religious texts.
Justice Chauhan orally remarked that filmmakers only wanted to make money. He added that if even a short documentary on the Quran was made, it would cause a stir if wrong things were depicted in it. “If you make even a short documentary on the Quran, depicting wrong things, then you will see what can happen,” the court said.
On June 27, the HC had directed the deputy solicitor general to obtain complete instructions from the I & B ministry and the CBFC. It had also allowed an application requesting the inclusion of Manoj Muntashir Shukla, dialogue writer of Adipurush, as a party in the case and issued notice to him.
The deputy solicitor general, S.B. Pandey, informed the HC that the film had been certified by a committee of five expert members, and that the certificate was not challenged by the petitioners. The court sarcastically responded that those who had certified the film portraying the Ramayan in the manner in which it was portrayed in the film were truly “blessed”.
The plea to ban the film was filed by social activists Kuldeep Tiwari and Naveen Dhawan. An amendment application was filed recently to include Manoj Muntashir Shukla as a party to the case.