Supreme Court agrees to hear ‘Udaipur Files’ producer’s plea against Delhi HC order on film’s stay

Bhatia said the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) had cleared Udaipur Files for release, and theatres were booked. “I had the certificate. All theatres were booked…”.

He pointed out that the SC had refused to give an urgent hearing to a plea by an accused in the case seeking a stay on the film’s release. “I must say with some responsibility that it’s a case of violation of fundamental rights. SC refused to give a hearing, but Delhi HC interfered and stayed the release,” he said.

Bhatia added that advance ticket bookings were accepted, and all arrangements were in place for the film’s release, when the Delhi High Court issued the stay.

The Delhi High Court order came on a plea by Maulana Arshad Madani, the principal of the Darul Uloom Deoband, and others. They contended that the movie, purportedly based on the murder of tailor Kanhaiya Lal by alleged Islamic fundamentalists in 2022, is “replete with dialogues and instances that had led to communal disharmony in the very recent past and thus carry every potential to again stoke the same communal sentiments”.

The Division Bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Anish Dayal relegated the petitioner to the Central government to seek a review of CBFC’s decision to grant a certificate green-lighting the release of the film.

The HC-directed stay shall be operational until the Centre decides on the application for interim relief that Madani may request, including suspension from the exhibition of the film. As per the court-directed timelines, the HC-directed stay can then range from July 14 until a maximum of July 21.

CBFC informed the high court that the film had already undergone 55 cuts that it directed the makers to incorporate. The Centre, too, argued that the film is not community-specific but rather “crime-specific”.

Kanhaiya Lal was allegedly hacked to death by Mohammad Riyaz and Ghouse Mohammad at his shop in Udaipur on June 28, 2022, over a post shared by him on social media in support of suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma, who made some comments about the Prophet during a live television debate.