Bombay High Court Restrains Release Of Film “Hamare Baarah” Allegedly Derogatory To Islamic Faith Till June 14

The Bombay High Court recently restrained the release of film “Hamare Baarah” on any public platform until June 14, 2024.

A division bench of Justices NR Borkar and Kamal Khata was dealing with a writ petition against the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) seeking to revoke the certification granted to the film and thereby injunct it from being released.

“Respondent Nos. 1 to 6 are restrained from in any manner exhibiting, circulating or making available for viewership to the general public the film in question, namely “Hamare Baarah” on any public forum/platform including the platforms of the Respondent Nos. 10 to 12, till 14^th June 2024”, the court directed.

The petition, filed by one Azhar Basha Tamboli, alleges that the film, which was earlier set to release on June 7, is in complete contravention of the provisions of the Cinematograph Act, 1952, and the rules and guidelines associated with it. The petition further claims that the film is wrongly certified and its release would violate Article 19(2) and Article 25 of the Constitution.

According to Advocate Mayur Khandeparkar for the petitioner, the film's trailer portrays the lives of married Muslim women as having no independent rights as individuals in society. He argued that this portrayal is based on a misreading of “Aayat 223,” a verse in the Quran. He also submitted that despite the modifications directed to be carried out prior to the release of the film, the trailer did not contain any disclaimer or reference to the certification granted by the CBFC.

Khandeparkar showed the trailer to the bench and pointed the dialogues which the petitioner claims are derogatory to the Islamic faith and married Muslim women in India. He contended that the public exhibition of the film would hurt the sentiments of Muslims and potentially create hatred in society. He argued that the trailer violates section 5B of the Cinematograph Act and sections 153A, 292, 293 295A and 505 of the IPC.

Advocate Advait Sethna for CBFC submitted that the certification for the film was granted after following all necessary procedures. He relied on certifications dated January 23, 2024, and April 3, 2024, along with the excisions and modifications made to the film. Sethna asserted that the objectionable scenes and dialogues have been deleted, and therefore, the petitioner's contention that they still exist is baseless since they have not seen the film. He further submitted that the trailers released on YouTube and BookMyShow are not certified trailers and that appropriate action will be taken to withdraw these trailers.

The court opined that prima facie a case is made out by the petitioner. However, it highlighted the issue of locus of the petitioner and the need for further hearings and viewing of the film. As the bench was available only for the day, the matter will be heard by another bench or the regular bench, the court noted.

In light of this, the court restrained the makers from exhibiting, circulating, or making the film “Hamare Baarah” available for viewership to the general public on any public forum/platform until June 14, 2024.

The court scheduled matter to be placed before the regular court on June 10, 2024 and granted liberty to producers and the petitioner to mention the matter if required during the vacation or before the regular court. It directed the respondents to file and serve their replies on or before June 10, 2024.

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