AZHAR BASHA TAMBOLI LTD Vs. RAVI S. GUPTA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This Petition is filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India seeking a Writ of Mandamus against the Chairperson of Central Board of Film Certification ("CBFC") to revoke the certification granted to the film "Hamare Baarah" ("the film" for short) and thereby injunct it from being released in public domain in any manner or form.

(2.) The Petition alleges that the film is in complete contravention of the provisions of the Cinematograph Act, 1952 ("Cinematograph Act") read with the rules and guidelines. The Petition alleges that the film is wrongly certified and the release would violate Article 19(2) and Article 25 of the Constitution.

(3.) Mr. Khandeparkar for the Petitioner submits that the upon viewing the trailer of the film on YouTube (Respondent No. 10) the Petitioner learnt that the film inter alia portrays lives of married Muslim women to have no independent rights as individuals in society owing to "Aayat 223" a verse in the Quran which in his view is entirely wrong and a misreading of the verse. He submits that despite the modifications directed to be carried out prior to the release of the film the trailer did not contain any disclaimer nor any reference to the certification granted by CBFC (Respondent No 8). He submits that the trailer contains various dialogues and visuals which are derogatory to the Islamic faith but also to married muslim women in India.