Patwardhan’s film cleared

Cable operators in Mumbai may have incurred the wrath of the high court by beaming A and U/A certificate movies on television channels in violation of the rules.

Cable operators in Mumbai may have incurred the wrath of the high court by beaming A and U/A certificate movies on television channels in violation of the rules. But the Supreme Court has taken a different track, albeit in respect of a documentary film, and said any blanket ban on the telecast of films on TV would be violative of the fundamental rights.

The ruling came from a Bench of Justice A.R. Lakshmanan and Justice L.S. Panta, which tore apart Doordarshan’s objections to telecasting the U/A certified documentary “Father, Son and Holy War” made by filmmaker Anand Patwardhan. The film deals with the subject of gender and religious violence.

Patwardhan had submitted the documentary in 1995 to Doordarshan for telecasting. But the national broadcaster declined saying as per a circular of August 14, 1996, it would not telecast A or U/A certified feature films.

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Against this a protracted round of litigation went on in the Bombay High Court, which finally cleared it for telecast. Against this, DD approached the SC.

The SC Bench which heard the matter also saw the documentary and came to the conclusion that it carried a socially relevant theme. It rejected DD’s arguments that the film could polarise people and inflame passions.

On the 1996 guidelines, the court said “in our view, a documentary cannot be denied exhibition on Doordarshan simply on account of its A or U/A certification.

Bhavish Aggarwal (Photo via his Twitter page)

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