Supreme Court stays ban on screening of Padmaavat

Supreme Court stays ban on screening of Padmaavat

Context

The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the notifications and orders passed by certain States to prohibit the exhibition of the Censor Board certified movie, Padmaavat, saying the court’s “conscience is shocked” that the States have guillotined creative rights

Court’s directions

• Court ordered all States to ensure that public law and order situation is maintained during the screening of the film across the country
• The court ordered the States to protect the artistes and the people involved in the movie from threats. It further forbade the States from passing any order, notification which amounts to prohibition of the exhibition of the movie.

Court’s observations

• States cannot use its machinery to prohibit the movie’s exhibition citing risk to public order
• The grant of certificate by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) under the Cinematograph Act of 1952 denudes the States of any power to exercise prohibition on the exhibition of the film

Backdrop

The moviemakers had moved the court against the ‘hostile’ moves made by the BJP-ruled States of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh against the movie.