A division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva and Justice Vinay Saraf issued the 24-hour returnable notices to the respondents during preliminary hearing of the PIL at Jabalpur on Monday.
Kangana Ranaut
The Madhya Pradesh High Court on Monday served notices to BJP’s Mandi constituency Lok Sabha member Kangana Ranaut and others on a public interest litigation filed against the screening of her movie “Emergency”.
A division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva and Justice Vinay Saraf issued the 24-hour returnable notices to the respondents during preliminary hearing of the PIL at Jabalpur on Monday.
The Jabalpur ‘Sikh Sangat’ and ‘Shri Guru Singh Sabha’ of Indore have filed the plea stating that the Sikhs are being directly affected and have chosen to move the court for protection of their dignity and honour enshrined in the Constitutional provisions.
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The Public Interest Litigation (PIL) stated that ‘Emergency’ contains scenes that violate the fundamental rights of the Sikh community. It has sought unconditional apology from the actor-turned politician Kangana.
Kangana portrays the role of former Prime Minister late Indira Gandhi in the film, scheduled for release on September 6.
According to the petitioners’ lawyer N S Ruprah, the court ordered sending of the notices through electronic mode to the respondents, and returnable (with their replies over issues raised in the plea) by September 3.
Ruprah said the petition seeks direction to the Union government and the MP government to restrict screening of the movie across the country and particularly in Madhya Pradesh.
Furthermore, the plea seeks direction to Kangana Ranaut and other respondents to tender unconditional apology to the entire nation for making such an irresponsible film and pay exemplary damages to any Sikh charitable organization / institution.
Notices have been served to the Union and State governments, the Central Board of Film Certification, Manikarnika Films Pvt. Ltd., the Zee Studios Ltd., Zee Studios Ltd. Chief Business Officer Umesh K Bansal, YouTube, Instagram and Facebook India Online Services Pvt. Ltd.
The court has fixed the next date of hearing on Tuesday, 3 September.
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