The Supreme Court will hear on January 29 a plea by a lawyer seeking the deletion of some of the scenes of controversial film “Padmaavat” which is set to release on Thursday.
The bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud posted the matter for hearing on January 29 as petitioner advocate M.L. Sharma drew attention of the court to its November 20, 2017 order by which it had struck off six paragraphs of his petition as the court felt that they were not conducive to harmony in society.
The six paragraphs were on the story of Queen Padmavati and the events surrounding her.
While erasing six paragraphs, the court by its November 20 order had said, “Pleadings in a court are not meant to create any kind of disharmony in the society which believes in the conceptual unity among diversity.”
The court in its order had said, “…what has been struck off by this Court should not be used otherwise.”
Referring to the order, Sharma told the court that if six paragraphs were chopped off as they were not conducive to harmony, then all the scenes in film “Padmaavat” too should be deleted as they were capable of creating disharmony.
Recalling the order, Sharma told the court that while striking off the six paragraphs from his petition, the court had said that they “should not be used otherwise.”
If some part of the story of Queen Padmavati could not be “used otherwise”, then how are they being retained in the film releasing on January 25, he told the court.
