Supreme Court says it cannot pass order on plea seeking stay on PM Modi biopic

The Supreme Court Monday said it cannot pass an order at this stage on a plea seeking a stay on the release of a biopic on PM Narendra Modi as the Censor Board was yet to certify the film. The top court said it will hear the matter on Tuesday and possibly can pass an order if the petitioner brings on record that what the film depicts is highly objectionable. A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi refused the plea of the petitioner, a Congress activist, that the copy of the film should be given to him.

“Why should we direct that individual be given a copy of the film,” the bench also comprising Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna said. “We fail to understand why such a direction be given,” the bench said.

At the outset, the CJI said the film is not yet certified. Senior advocate A M Singhvi, appearing for the Congress activist, said the producer Sandeep Singh had come out with a statement that the biopic would be released on April 11.

Taking note of his submission, the bench said the producer may have come out with such a statement on release of the biopic on April 11 anticipating that the film would get the certification from the Censor Board. The bench said as of now there is no cause of action for challenging release of the film.

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. Oberoi, a staunch supporter of Modi, said that some powerful people created difficulties for them, and they couldn’t release the prime minister’s biopic on April 5, less than a week before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.