Bombay HC Clears Release Of Movie Purportedly Based On UP CM Yogi Adityanath, Directs Censor Board To Issue Certificate

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Monday cleared the decks for the release of a film purportedly based on the life of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, while directing the censor board to issue it a certificate.

Bench Finds No Objectionable Content in Movie

A bench of Justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Neela Gokhale said it had watched the movie and found nothing objectionable in it, allowing its release without any edits.

CBFC’s Objections Overruled

The court set aside the Central Board of Film Certification’s (CBFC) revising committee’s order rejecting certification for the movie. The movie, inspired by the book The Monk Who Became Chief Minister, hit a roadblock after the CBFC refused to certify the film, raising several objections, including the non-submission of a no-objection certificate from the UP CM’s office.

29 Objections Initially Raised

The CBFC had initially raised 29 objections to the film. On appeal, the Revising Committee struck down 8 of those objections on August 17 but still denied certification for the film.

No Defamation or Obscenity, Says Court

The bench then decided to watch the movie on Friday. After viewing the film, the court opined that there was nothing in it that needed to be changed.

While Senior Advocate Ram Apte, appearing for the CBFC, argued that the film contained obscenity and could be defamatory towards CM Adityanath, the court observed that the film contained neither obscenity nor defamatory content.

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Disclaimer to Be Added for Clarity

The court further suggested that the CBFC may require an additional disclaimer stating that the film is a creative work and is based on fictional characters.

The makers’ counsel, Ravi Kadam, and advocates Satatya Anand and Nikhil Aradhe said that a three-line disclaimer stating the film is fictional and inspired by real events had been included. The court accepted the same.