Plea Before Telangana High Court Against 'The Kashmir Files' Film Dismissed As Withdrawn

A plea moved before the Telangana High Court to challenge the release of the movie The Kashmir Files has been dismissed as withdrawn. The film directed by Vivek Agnihotri features well-known actors like Anupam Kher and Mithun Chakraborty released on March 11.

The plea moved before the Court challenged the making, releasing, and telecasting of certain 'objectionable' scenes in the film which, as per the plea, shows mass murders of Kashmiri Pandits by Muslims and exodus of Kashmiri Pandits during the Kashmir Insurgency.

The plea moved by one Mohammed Sami Ullah Qureshi further claimed that the film had hurt the religious sentiments of several Muslims around the world.

However, after arguing the matter at length, the counsel for the petitioner sought permission from the Court to withdraw the writ petition to pursue an alternative remedy. In view of this, the Bench of Justice Patlolla Madhavi Devi granted the permission and dismissed the plea as withdrawn with liberty to pursue an alternative remedy.

It may be noted that earlier this month, the Bombay High Court had dismissed a PIL seeking to stall the release of the movie "The Kashmir Files" on the alleged grounds of hurting religious sentiments of the Muslim community and inflaming members of the Hindu Community with the possibility of triggering communal violence.

The Bench led by Chief Justice Dipankar Datta had noted that the Petitioner had not challenged the censor certificate issued by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). The rule of exhaustion of an efficacious alternative remedy applies also in public interest litigation as it does in respect of litigation initiated in private interest.

In related news, a Kashmiri Pandits organization "Roots in Kashmir" has filed a curative petition in the Supreme Court today seeking a probe into the killings of Kashmiri Pandits during the height of militancy in the valley during the 1990s.

The curative petition is filed against a 2017 verdict of the Supreme Court which had dismissed the organization's petition for probe citing long delay.

On July 24, 2017, a bench comprising the then Chief Justice JS Khehar and Justice DY Chandrachud had dismissed the petition saying "No evidence will be available after 27 years. What happened is heart-wrenching but we can't pass orders now". Subsequently, the review petition against the verdict was dismissed on October 24, 2017.

Case title - Mohammed Sami Ullah Qureshi v. The Government Of Telangana

Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Tel) 23

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