New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday slapped
a fine of Rs 10,000 on the Centre for imposing a legally
non-sustainable cut on documentary `Had Anhad` on
poet-philosopher Kabir and ordered the film`s release without
any cut imposed by the Censor Board.
Justice S Muralidhar also ordered the Centre to
release the film forthwith after awarding it a universal
viewership certificate.
"Film `Had Anhad` (Bounded-Boundless) will forthwith be
granted a V/U certificate of unrestricted viewing by the
Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) without any of the
cuts directed in terms of the orders of the CBFC and the Film
Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT)," the court said.
The court gave the order allowing the petition by Srishti
School of Art, Design and Technology which had produced the
film. It had come to the court challenging the excisions
ordered by the CBFC.
"A viewer who stays to see the film till its end is
unlikely to be left feeling hateful or vengeful towards any
religion or community. The viewer might be impelled to
contemplate on the futility of bigotry and violence.
"Viewed in this light and in the light of the settled
constitutional law of the freedom of speech and expression,
none of the excisions as directed by the CBFC, three of which
have been upheld by the FCAT, is legally sustainable," the
court said.
It imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on the Centre which would
be paid to the producer of the film within a month.
One of the cuts wanted deletion of the words "Muslims
living in India and the neighbouring Islamic state of
Pakistan" on the ground that it violated the guidelines of the
Ministry of Information and Broadcasting notified in 1978.
PTI
