Bombay High Court Rejects CBFC's Objections To 'Inn Galiyon Mein', Says Board Overstepped Guidelines

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has rejected several objections raised by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) regarding scenes and dialogues in ‘Inn Galiyon Mein’, ruling that the board was “stretching its own guidelines a bit too much.”

The film’s director, Vinod Kumar, challenged the CBFC’s suggested modifications, including excisions, insertions, and deletions. One of the key objections was a scene depicting a flag being trampled. CBFC’s counsel, Advocate Vinit Jain, argued that such visuals should not be permitted as “a flag of any nature ought not to be treated in such an insulting manner.”

Justice Manish Pitale dismissed this concern, agreeing with the petitioner’s argument that the flag did not represent any nation or political party. It belonged to a fictional party in the film, associated with a character inciting communal disharmony, who is ultimately defeated.

“Mere trampling of the flag cannot be said to be objectionable, particularly when it neither represents the flag of a nation nor that of any political party,” the court observed.

The CBFC also sought to delete the phrase “Goli maro salon ko” due to its reference to a neighboring nation.

The court found no issue with it, noting that the film portrays those using such language as ultimately being defeated by rational characters. “This Court is of the opinion that in the context of the entire film, particularly in the light of the sequence or scenes that lead up to the said dialogue, nothing objectionable is found and the respondent-CBFC is stretching its own guidelines a bit too much, while raising the aforesaid objection,” the court added.

Similarly, the board objected to the dialogue “Ye desh aisa hi chalega” and insisted on removing the word “Desh”. The court ruled against this, stating that in the film’s context, it was not objectionable.

However, some modifications suggested by the CBFC were voluntarily accepted by the petitioner. The filmmakers have been directed to submit a revised version of the film within a week, after which the CBFC must issue a UA-12 certificate within a week thereafter.

The movie, set in Lucknow, starrs Javed Jaffrey, Vivaan Shah, and Avantika Dasani. It follows a romance between protagonists from different communities, set against the backdrop of an election influenced by fake rumors.