SC refuses to stay release of Aiyaary

Aiyaary

The Supreme Court on Friday refused to stay the release of the film Aiyaary, underlining that freedom of speech and expression was a cherished constitutional right. “… the freedom of speech and expression is an extremely cherished right under the Constitution. The moment it is atrophied, not only the right, but the person having the right gets into coma,” a two-judge bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice S K Kaul said while dismissing a petition by Mumbai-based Adarsh Co-operative Housing Society.

The petitioner claimed that the film defames its members and was likely to prejudice the Adarsh society case, which is pending in court. The court said while the right was not absolute, “any restriction has be extremely narrow”. Appearing for the society, senior advocate Sanjay Hegde said the film defames senior Army officials. He said the stain it will create will be impossible to wipe off. The court disagreed with the contention and said the CBFC had already cleared the movie.

The bench observed that courts decide a controversy placed before it on the basis of material brought on record and not as per the author’s imagination as projected in theatre and celluloid. “Movies don’t influence the judgment of this court,” the CJI observed. Justice Kaul pointed to a situation where every citizen would become a censor board, and added the question was how one perceives a film.