Final Hearing on IMPPA Petition Against Age Limit Curb on 29 July

The film body said the state's new guidelines is becoming an obstacle for people in the industry.

The cast and crew wear masks while shooting for an ad.

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter)

The Indian Motion Pictures Producers Association (IMPPA) had recently approached the Bombay High Court against the Maharashtra government's new guidelines barring people over 65 years to take part in any kind of work on the sets.

During the hearing, the court asked the government lawyer if there is any provision to stop a 70 years old shop owner from working in his shop, to which her reply was no and hence the judges asked her how can you stop only film people from doing work and earning their livelihood?

The matter was listed as partly heard and it was declared that this matter will be finally heard before the same bench of two judges on Wednesday 29-7-20 and will not be placed before any other bench.

A petition was filed earlier this week that sought to quash the age curb limit that the government has introduced for TV and film shoots to resume after the coronavirus lockdown.

"A list has been submitted along with the petition, which shows that there are thousands of people aged above 65 who have been a part of TV shows and films that had started shoot before the lockdown was imposed. Even after the shoots have resumed, they cannot be completed due to the non-availability of these senior people", the petition states.

The petition, that had been filed through Advocate Ashok Saraogi, also claimed that these new guidelines are posing to be an obstacle in the way of producers, technicians and actors when it comes to completing TV shows and films. "The trade has come to a standstill, with many from the industry not being able to manage two square meals a day. Some people have even committed suicide", the petition stated. It added that a similar directive was issued by Karnataka government, but it later clarified that it had only advised people above 65 and below 10 years to not come to the sets and it wasn't binding.

The High Court had heard an individual's petition on Tuesday and asked the state if a physically fit person above 65 years is not allowed to go out how will he earn his livelihood?

(Inputs: Mumbai Mirror)