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Journalism of Courage
The Madras High Court on Friday dismissed a PIL seeking a direction to the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to revoke the certificate issued to Mersal, a movie starring Vijay that kicked up a controversy for its ‘’anti-GST’’ dialogues. Justices M M Sundresh and M Sundar said the voices of the minority sections cannot be stifled in a democratic system, and that it is up to the viewers to take a call on the contents of a movie.
Suggesting that the petitioner take up real issues and fight social evils instead of targeting a movie, the bench reminded that they cannot issue gag orders against those who criticise demonetisation. “This is democracy, people have their right to freedom of expression, and that applies to films as well,” the court said.
Read | Mersal row: Vijay thanks fans in note, signs using Christian name
The petitioner argued that “false information about GST and Digital India scheme would encourage people to evade tax”. Meanwhile, sources close to the producers of Mersal said the release of the Telugu-dubbed version may be delayed. “The board saw the movie on Monday and promised a U/A certificate, similar to the Tamil version. But the hard copy of the censor certificate has not yet been released by CBFC, which is crucial to release the movie,” said a source.
The Telugu version was to be released on Friday.
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