Supreme Court to hear producer’s plea on Monday against EC ban on PM Modi’s biopic

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear on Monday a plea against Election Commission’s ban on the release of the biopic on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Producers of biopic 'PM Narendra Modi' approached the top court raising issues related to fundamental rights of freedom of speech and expression after the poll panel on Wednesday imposed the ban.  

The EC had banned the screening of the Vivek Oberoi-starrer biopic 'PM Narendra Modi' during the Lok Sabha Elections 2019, saying any such film that subserves the purpose of any political entity or individual should not be displayed in the electronic media.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said it will hear the plea filed by producers of the biopic on April 15.

The petition has been filed a day after the top court in a judgement reprimanded West Bengal government for imposing a shadow ban on a Bangla film ‘Bhobishyoter Bhoot’ based on political satire and imposed a fine of Rs 20 lakh on the state government.

Earlier, the Supreme Court had dismissed the petition filed by a Congress activist seeking a stay on the release of the biopic, saying the Election Commission was the right forum to decide the issue. The court said that it will be decided by the poll panel whether the movie can violate the Model Code of Conduct.

“Since the movie was not certified at that time by the Censor Board it could not entertain the petition seeking a ban on the film,” the top court had said.

Later on Tuesday evening, the Censor Board had certified the biopic and the Congress activist on Wednesday succeeded in securing a ban on its release from the Election Commission.

The film was originally scheduled to hit the theatres on April 5 but due to certain hurdles by "powerful people", the release got delayed to April 11, the same day first phase of Lok Sabha elections starts. Bollywood actor Vivek Oberoi, who is portraying Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his controversial biopic, has reacted sharply after the film’s release got postponed to April 11.