Mumbai: Supreme Court on Thursday put a stay on the release of the Annu Kapoor starrer movie ‘Hamare Baarah’ and asked the Bombay High Court to decide expeditiously a petition alleging that the film was derogatory to the Islamic faith and married Muslim women.
A vacation bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta halted the release of the film till the disposal of the petition challenging the movie’s certification. The movie was scheduled to release on June 14.
The apex court was hearing a plea challenging the order of the Bombay High Court permitting the release of the movie.
“Until disposal of the petition before the High Court, screening of the movie in question shall remain suspended. We request the High Court to dispose of the plea expeditiously,” the bench stated in its order.
During the hearing, the judges also observed that they watched the teaser of the movie today and found it to be “offensive.”
Petitioner Azhar Basha Tamboli had earlier approached the High Court against the certificate given by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to the movie and sought to revoke the certification granted to the film “Hamare Baarah” and injuncting its release.
Reacting to the Supreme Court ruling, Producer Virender Bhagat thanked the apex court for hearing the matter. He also said that the censor board had found the movie to be themed on women’s empowerment and population awareness
Speaking to ANI, Virender Bhagat said, “I want to thank the Supreme Court for hearing us today. The censor board said that this is a movie on women’s empowerment and population awareness and had submitted the report to the Bombay High Court.
“The Supreme Court said that the film screening would be stopped as decided by the Bombay High Court. SC also gave instructions to hear this matter immediately and give a verdict on this as early as possible,” he added. Recently, the Bombay HC permitted the release of the movie after the makers agreed to delete two dialogues from the film.