DNA: Mumbai: Wednesday, November 16, 2016.
Even as
Censor Board chief Pahlaj Nihalani continues courting controversy over the
indiscriminate chopping off scenes in films, the Central Board of Film Certification
(CBFC) is embroiled in over a hundred court cases, more than half of which
accuse the Board of being too "liberal".
"While
we categorise and clear films after the recommended cuts are implemented,
several cases are filed against us for allowing content which people feel
should not be cleared. With our limited staff, fighting these cases hampers our
routine work," a CBFC official said.
According to
data received by DNA from the CBFC under the Right to Information Act, the film
certification body is currently fighting as many as 143 cases filed by obscure
socio-religious organisations and also by individual activists from across the
country, championing "decency" in film content.
The data also
reveals that several cases have also been filed against issues, which don't
come under the purview of the CBFC. In February this year, a case was filed
against the Board in the Delhi High Court by an organisation calling itself
Meri Awaz Suno alleging that it allowed "obscene" content in the
Sunny Leone film Mastizaade to be passed. Officials say that this was after the
film had been cleared by the CBFC as an Adult category film, with as many as
381 cuts.
Similarly,
another case was filed against the CBFC by an organisation calling itself
Raksha Jyoti Foundation at the High Court of Punjab and Haryana. Board
officials say the organisation had accused them of being been too
"liberal" in clearing the films Mastizaade and Kya Kool Hai Hum 3.
According to the RTI, the latter film had been cleared after 150 cuts.
Ironically,
Board officials say that many of these petitioners file such cases before the
film's release so as to make it a hit. "If the film loses money at the box
office, they lose interest in the case, and do not pursue it further," an
official said.
It is not
just charges of "vulgarity" and "obscenity" alone that
cause organisations to file cases against the CBFC.
An
organisation calling itself Dharmaprachar Sabha recently filed a case seeking
suspension of the film Singham Returns as they claimed it hurt "the
religious sentiments of Hindus." Other instances include a case filed by
Jamiat Ulama e Maharashtra at the Bombay High Court to stay the release of the
film Ya Rab, and another against the film Santa Banta Pvt Ltd by Punjabi
Cultural Heritage Board; both films were apparently hurting the religious
sentiments of the communities.
Officials
told DNA that the Board will soon be having a separate legal cell, with two
lawyers, to deal exclusively with such cases. "The plan has been approved
by the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) ministry and will come up in the
next few weeks," an official said.
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