The
Delhi
high
court
on
Thursday
stayed
the
release
of
“Udaipur
Files”
movie,
scheduled
to
hit
the
screens
on
July
11,
till
the
Centre
decides
the
pleas
seeking
its
permanent
ban
for
its
potential
to
“promote
disharmony”
in
society.
Kindly
note
that
this
image
has
been
posted
for
representational
purposes
only.
Photograph:
ANI
Photo
A
division
bench
of
Chief
Justice
D
K
Upadhyaya
and
Justice
Anish
Dayal
directed
the
petitioners
to
approach
the
Centre
within
two
days
with
their
grievance.
The
bench
said
the
petitioners
hadn’t
taken
the
recourse
to
approach
the
central
government.
“We
provide
that
till
the
application
for
interim
relief,
if
made
by
petitioner
along
with
revision
petition,
is
decided
by
government,
release
of
the
film
shall
remain
stayed,”
the
bench
held.
During
the
hearing,
senior
advocate
Kapil
Sibal
urged
the
judges
to
watch
the
film
based
on
tailor
Kanhaiya
Lal
murder
case,
terming
it
“vicious”
and
“cinematic
vandalism”.
The
petitions,
including
one
filed
by
Maulana
Arshad
Madani,
Jamiat
Ulama-i-Hind
president
and
principal
of
Darul
Uloom
Deoband,
have
claimed
that
a
trailer
of
the
movie
released
on
June
26
was
replete
with
dialogues
and
instances
that
had
led
to
communal
disharmony
in
2022,
and
carries
every
potential
to
again
stoke
the
same
communal
sentiments.
“Where
is
this
country
going?
This
is
not
right
for
the
country.
Please
don’t
let
this
kind
of
malicious
work
go
in
public.
This
is
certainly
not
art.
It’s
cinematic
vandalism.
Saying
in
national
interest,
in
the
interest
of
the
fraternity,”
Sibal
said.
He
submitted
the
producer
had
a
history
of
making
hateful
incitements.
The
bench
observed
the
producer
uploaded
the
trailer
along
with
the
portion
that
was
ordered
to
be
taken
down.
It
also
noted
the
submission
of
additional
solicitor
general
Chetan
Sharma,
representing
the
film
certification
board,
that
necessary
action
warranted
under
law
would
be
taken
by
the
Central
Board
of
Film
Certification.
The
bench
directed
the
petitioner
to
approach
the
government
latest
by
Monday.
“Once
the
petitioner
approaches
central
government
by
filing
revision
petition,
same
shall
be
considered
and
decided
by
government
within
one
week
and
of
course
after
giving
opportunity
to
the
producer,”
the
court
said.
During
the
hearing,
the
court
also
said
that
clearing
film
for
release
was
experts’
job,
and
“any
judicial
intervention
should
be
very
limited”.
The
ASG,
meanwhile,
told
the
court
that
the
film
was
a
work
of
fiction
based
on
certain
real
life
incidents,
“with
limited
artistic
freedom”.
“It
is
a
crime
film
which
actually
warns
people
that
your
harmony
is
being
disturbed
by
someone
in
a
foreign
country.
It
is
not
community
specific,
it
is
crime
specific.
Whole
theme
is
that
these
seeds
of
communal
disharmony
is
engineered
and
propagated
across
the
border
by
a
concerted
mechanism.
Yesterday
on
the
streets
of
Karachi,
those
very
persons
for
whom
Operation
Sindoor
was
conducted,
again
got
together
under
aegis
of
ISIS,”
the
ASG
said.
On
that
the
court
asked,
“What
is
to
do
with
the
film?”
“The
film
cautions
people
here.
It
is
a
crime
film,
suggests
that
we
all
should
live
together.
That’s
the
theme.
If
someone
has
problem
with
that,
I
have
nothing
to
say,”
the
ASG
said.
The
producer
of
the
film
added
that
“This
is
typical
plot
of
India-Pakistan.
Petitioner
has
taken
dialogues
out
of
context.”
The
high
court
on
July
9
directed
the
producers
to
arrange
the
screening
of
the
movie
for
the
petitioners.
Udaipur-based
tailor
Kanhaiya
Lal
was
murdered
in
June
2022
allegedly
by
Mohammad
Riyaz
and
Mohammad
Ghous.
The
assailants
had
later
released
a
video
claiming
the
murder
was
in
reaction
to
the
tailor
allegedly
sharing
a
social
media
post
in
support
of
former
BJP
leader
Nupur
Sharma
after
her
controversial
comments
on
Prophet
Mohammed.
The
case
was
probed
by
the
National
Investigation
Agency
and
the
accused
were
booked
under
stringent
Unlawful
Activities
Prevention
Act
(UAPA),
besides
provisions
under
the
Indian
Penal
Code.
The
trial
is
pending
before
the
special
NIA
court
in
Jaipur.