New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain a writ petition seeking cancellation of the certificate granted by the CBFC to Annu Kapoor starrer ‘Humare Barah’ directed by Kamal Chandra. A vacation bench headed by Justice Vikram Nath said it was not inclined to hear a petition filed directly in the apex court challenging the certificate granted to the film by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).
“You challenge the order of the Bombay High Court. The film was screened and the Bombay judges have seen it. They directed deletion of certain scenes, shots and dialogues. If you seek permission and file an appeal, it would be right for this court to examine the matter,” the bench, which also comprised Justice SVN Bhatti, told the petitioner’s counsel.
Seeing the Supreme Court’s reluctance to consider the petition, the counsel for the petitioner sought permission to withdraw the writ petition. The petition was dismissed as withdrawn and liberty was granted to file a special leave petition against the Bombay High Court order permitting the release of the film on 21 June.
In an order passed on Wednesday, the Bombay High Court allowed the release of the controversial film but made certain modifications to the content of the film which were found objectionable. The petition filed under Article 32 of the Constitution claimed that the film shows that Muslim women have no independent rights and that the Muslim community is responsible for the increasing population in India.
“The director and producers of the movie have targeted a particular community and depicted the status of Muslim women as slaves and handmaids who are exploited by the male members. Verse 223 of Surah Baqarah Chapter 2 of the Holy Quran has been misinterpreted and misrepresented to mean that a Muslim man is permitted to treat a Muslim woman as his handmaid and exploit her in any manner whatsoever,” the plea filed through advocate Syed Mehdi Imam said.
Directed by Kamal Chandra, ‘Humare Barah’ also stars Ashwini Kalsekar, Rahul Bagga, Manoj Joshi, Aditi Bhatpahari, Paritosh Tiwari, Parth Samthaan and Shaan Saxena in pivotal roles.
After watching the trailer, a section of Muslim intellectuals objected to the film, saying that it misinterprets Islam and attempts to defame the religion and the entire Muslim community.
