The Supreme Court on Thursday declined to stall the screening of film ‘Ram Ki Janmabhoomi’, scheduled to release on 29 March. The apex court denied an urgent hearing of a plea seeking to stop the release of the film directed by Sanoj Mishra.
On the petitioner’s submission that screening the film now will “affect the atmosphere as mediation is going on in Ayodhya land dispute case”, a bench headed by Justice SA Bobde asked, “What is the connection with the mediation and the movie…no film can come in the way of mediation…we are not so pessimistic.”
The petition would be heard after two weeks, the court said.
The HC was hearing a plea filed by Yakub Habeebuddin Tucy, a self-proclaimed descendant of Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar, who had sought to stop the release of the film.
Produced by Waseem Rizvi, film ‘Ram Ki Janmabhoomi’ revolves around the controversial issue of Ram Mandir. It is slated for an all-India release on Friday.
The top court had on 8 March ordered a formal mediation in the Ayodhya case as a roadmap to solve the 60-year-old Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute.