Supreme Court stayed the notification by Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat banning Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s film ‘Padmaavat’. The apex court gave a green signal to the film’s release on Thursday, 18 January.
Senior advocate Harish Salve appearing for the producers argued that banning the film across states would destroy the federal structure.
The SC in its interim order said that all states are constitutionally obliged to maintain law and order and prevent any untoward incident during the screening of the film across India after permission is granted by CBFC.
Will Decide After Reading the Order, Says Gujarat
The Gujarat government reacted to the judgement saying it will study the Supreme Court order before taking a decision on Padmaavat’s screening in the state.
The Gujarat government imposed the ban because Rajputs felt that historical facts have been distorted in the movie and (the government felt) the screening may deteriorate the law and order situation in the state. Mehta made the same argument today (on Thursday)... However, the Supreme Court eventually stayed our notification. We will decide the future course of action after going through the order.Pradeepsinh Jadeja, Minister of State for Home
The film had been banned by the states despite the CBFC clearing the film with an U/A certificate and modifications. The producers of the Deepika Padukone-Shahid Kapoor-Ranveer Singh-starrer moved Supreme Court against the ban on Wednesday, 17 January.
According to the producers, there cannot be blanket bans across states when the makers have followed all of CBFC’s suggestions and changed the name of the film as well. According to previous Supreme Court precedent, states should only restrict screenings where clear law and order situation exists.
A Supreme Court bench headed by CJI Deepak Mishra heard the petition on Thursday.
Karni Sena however, is not daunted by the verdict. They are openly threatening to take law into their own hands.
Protesters are threatening to vandalise cinema halls where Padmaavat releases.
What’s more, women from the Jauhar Kshatriya Manch have threatened to perform “jauhar” or mass self-immolation on January 24 - Padmaavat is slated to release on 25 January.
“We have been protesting against the release of this film ever since we came to know of it. However, the government did not pay heed to our demands and decided to favour Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Hence, we have decided that some women will perform Jauhar on January 24. We are not afraid of death.”A Jauhar Kshatriya Manch member
Check out what protesters have to say:
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