Supreme Court Refuses To Entertain Plea To Ban "Why I killed Gandhi" Movie Streaming

The Supreme Court today refused to entertain a writ petition seeking a stay on the streaming of the movie "Why I killed Gandhi" which was set to release on the OTT platform 'Limelight' on 30th January, Mahatma Gandhi's death anniversary.

The bench of Justices Indira Banerjee and JK Maheshwari while granting liberty to the petitioner to approach the High Court in their order said,

"Writ petition under Art 32 may only be filed when there is a question of violation of Fundamental Right. No Fundamental Right of the petitioner appears to have been violated. However it appears that the petitioner is a citizen and may have a serious cause of concern. Petitioner is at liberty to approach the High Court under Art 226. This petition is not entertained."

Courtroom Exchange 

When the matter was called for hearing, Advocate Anuj Bhandari appearing for the petitioner (Sikandar Bhel) submitted that in the entire movie which was released on the OTT platform "Limelight", Gandhi had been called as "Napunsak" and "Hara Hua Juwhari".

"Movie why I killed Gandhi was released yesterday. In the movie, Gandhi has been called "Napunsak". Jokes are being made on Gandhi & the entire courtroom has been shown laughing on Gandhi. Gandhi has been called as "Hara Hua Juwhari," submitted Counsel.

While remarking that this was most unfortunate, Justice Indira Banerjee the presiding judge of the bench at this juncture asked the counsel as to why did he approach the Supreme Court straight away?

"That is most unfortunate. Why have you approached the Supreme Court straight away?" said Justice Indira Banejree.

Responding to the question posed by the bench, the counsel said that the movie had not been approved by the Censor Board. He further added that the movie had been uploaded only yesterday and could be removed with the click of the button.

Referring to some of the excerpts in the trailer, Counsel said, "They are tarnishing the image of the Father of the Nation. My feelings are being hurt & of the entire nation."

When the bench asked the counsel to approach the High Court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, counsel said, "It is being streamed across the nation. One High Court will not be able to deal with this as High Court's jurisdiction is only with regards to that place."

Expressing its inclination to not entertain the petition, the bench said, "You've made the Ministry a party & you have also made the Director a party."

Details Of The Petition

It was argued in the petition that if the release and exhibition of the said movie is not stopped the same would irreparably tarnish the image of the Father of Nation and would cause public unrest, hatred and disharmony.

"If the release and exhibition of the said movie is not stopped the same would irreparably tarnish the image of the Father of Nation and would cause public unrest, hatred and disharmony. The movie is aimed at creating communal disharmony, spreading hatred and disturbing peace," the petition stated.

The petitioner had sought for stopping the release, publication or exhibition of the movie "Why I Killed Gandhi" and all its associated content with immediate effect.

Aggrieved by the fact that the movies were being released and exhibited for public viewing on OTT platforms without any restriction, regulation or censure, Behl had also sought effective regulation of the OTT platforms.

The petition had stated that the movie "Why I killed Gandhi" was an attempt to tarnish the image of Mahatma Gandhi and to glorify his assassin Nathuram Godse.

According to the petitioner, in the movie's 2 minutes 20 seconds' long trailer, an attempt had been made to blame Mahatma Gandhi for the partition of India and atrocities against Hindus in Pakistan and thereby an attempt has been made to justify killing of Mahatma. The petitioner had said that the movie had not been cleared by the CBFC and was going for direct OTT release.

The writ petition was filed through Advocate Anuj Bhandari.

Case Title: Sikander Behl vs Union of India| WP(C) 56/ 2022

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