'Teaser Is So Offensive' : Supreme Court Halts Release Of Film 'Hamare Baraah' Till Bombay HC Decides Challenge To CBFC Certification

The Supreme Court on Thursday (June 13) suspended the screening of the film "Hamare Baarah", until disposal on merits of the case pending over its release before the Bombay High Court. The film, scheduled to release on June 14, is alleged to be derogatory towards the Islamic faith and married Muslim women in India.

A vacation bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta passed the order, in a plea challenging the Bombay High Court's order permitting the release of the film.

"Until disposal of the petition before the High Court, screening of the movie in question shall remain suspended", the bench ordered, disposing of the petition.

During the hearing, the judges said that they watched the teaser of the movie today and found it to be offensive.

"Today morning we have seen the teaser. It is as such with all those objectionable materials. The teaser is available on YouTube," Justice Mehta said when the counsel for the movie producer submitted that the teaser of the movie has been removed from social media.

"The teaser is so offensive that the High Court granted an interim order," Justice Nath added referring to the first interim order passed by the High Court staying the release of the film.

The bench also slammed the Central Board of Film Certification(CBFC) saying that the failure of the statutory body to do its duties was clear from the fact that the movie makers themselves agreed to remove certain objectionable parts from the movie after its certification.

"There is a body which has been constituted which is required to do its work faithfully. We find that it has failed, on the face of the record, in view of the admission that they(film makers) have themselves removed a part of the movie," Justice Mehta said.

Briefly put, initially, a writ petition was filed before the Bombay High Court by petitioner-Azhar Basha Tamboli against the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), seeking to revoke the certification granted to the film "Hamare Baarah" and injuncting its release.

The petitioner alleged that the film, which was earlier set to release on June 7, was in contravention of the provisions of the Cinematograph Act, 1952, and the rules and guidelines associated with it. He claimed that the trailer was derogatory to the Islamic faith and married Muslim women in India, and the film's release would violate Articles 19(2) and Article 25 of the Constitution.

According to the petitioner, the trailer portrayed married Muslim women as having no independent rights as individuals in society and the same was based on a misreading of “Aayat 223,” a verse in the Quran. It was averred that despite 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. 

The CBFC, on the other hand, argued that the certification for the film was granted after following all necessary procedures. It claimed that the objectionable scenes and dialogues were deleted and the trailers of the film released on YouTube and BookMyShow (referred to by the petitioner) were not certified trailers.

After hearing the parties, the Bombay High Court at first found a prima facie case in favor of the petitioner and restrained the respondents from releasing the film in public domain until June 14. Subsequently, the court directed constitution of a 3-member review committee to watch the film and give its uninfluenced comments. When the committee failed to give comments and instead sought time to file a detailed response, the court permitted release of the film, taking into account the filmmakers' voluntariness to delete certain contentious dialogues without prejudice to their rights and contentions.

Assailing the High Court order(s) permitting the release of the film and directing the constitution of a committee by the CBFC, the petitioner moved the Supreme Court.

During today's hearing before the top Court, Advocate Fauzia Shakil (for petitioner) argued that the High Court erred in asking the CBFC to appoint a committee, as it was an interested party. Agreeing with the counsel, Justice Mehta noted that the petitioner had raised contentions against CBFC and it was clearly an interested party.

Advocate Manish Srivastava (representing certain respondents) submitted on the other hand that the filmmakers had a right to release the film, as there was a CBFC certification in place. He also contended that the petitioner's grievance was based on a teaser, which had since been removed from public platforms.

Ultimately, the bench left it for the High Court to decide the case on merits and stayed the screening of the film till such time. In addition, the petitioner was given liberty to raise the objection regarding constitution of the committee by the CBFC before the High Court.

"Both the parties will extend full cooperation in the disposal of the main petition and would not seek any adjournment", the Court made clear.

Although a request was made by Srivastava that the High Court be directed to decide and dispose of the case within 1 week, the top Court declined to say anything in that regard. "We can only request the High Court, we are not supervisory [authority]", Justice Mehta commented.

Case Title: Azhar Basha Tamboli v. Ravi S. Gupta and Ors., SLP(C) No. 13061-13062/2024