Bombay High Court on Wednesday heard the petition filed by Zee Entertainment Enterprises seeking the release of actress Kangana Ranaut's film 'Emergency' and a censor certificate from the CBFC. A few days back, Kangana Ranaut revealed that the Indian Censor Board withheld the certification that was necessary for the release of her upcoming movie Emergency. Emergency was slated to be released in theaters on September 6, 2024, but now the movie's fate lies in limbo. Bollywood actress & Mandi MP Kangana Ranaut who is playing former Indian PM Indira Gandhi in the movie revealed that the Indian Censor Board officials are getting death threats. As a result, she has been asked to not show Indira Gandhi's assassination, Jarnail Singh Bhindrawale, and the Sikh Riots. Therefore, the CBFC has denied certification of the movie. This update came after SGPC wrote to the Censor Board and expressed their concern over the wrongful portrayal of Sikhs in the movie. Below is what the Bombay High Court said on Emergency release and what outcome finally came.
Bombay High Court concluded today's hearing saying that it is unable to direct CBFC (Central Board of Film Certification) to issue the certificate as it would contradict the MP High Court order. MP court had directed CBFC to consider representations of Sikh groups who had filed petitions before it. The Bombay High Court asked CBFC to decide by September 18. The next hearing will be on September 19.
The Bombay High Court observed, "How can these groups (Sikh groups) know that a film is upsetting to some people without watching it? Maybe it was based on a trailer. Apart from that, the Madhya Pradesh High Court has instructed the CBFC to address the concerns. If we (the Bombay High Court) direct them to issue a certificate, we will be asking them to violate another High Court's judgment. We must comply with the Madhya Pradesh High Court's order."
"If it is (release of film) delayed by one week, it is not going to make any difference," said the court. Chief Justice of India (CJI) led bench of the Supreme Court has observed in its ruling that if there is going to be a law and order situation, it is the responsibility of the machinery and not CBFC. "You should have yelled from the rooftop before the MP High Court that the film is already certified (as per system-generated email) and there is no need to examine objections," the bench added.
Reacting to the hearings, Kangana took to her X handle and wrote, "High court has blasted censor for illegally withholding the cirtificate of emergency. (SIC)"
As per reports, the Jabalpur Sikh Sangat had approached the MP High Court by filing a PIL opposing the release of the film. The High Court infact has directed that the petitioners in that petition, were permitted to file a comprehensive representation with the CBFC with regards to the objection to the certification of the film and its Trailer within a period of 3 days from September 3 and on receipt of such representation, the CBFC is ordered to decide the same.
As per the plea filed by Zee, the CBFC had on August 29 sent an email to Manikarnika Films, the production house owned by Kangana Ranaut and also the producer of the instant film. In the said email, the makers were intimated about the "successful certification" of the film, however, when they went to collect the certificate, they were denied the same.
CBFC counsel Dr Abhinav Chandrachud submitted that the certificate is not issued until it is signed by the chairperson of the CBFC. If the certificate isn't signed and an email is received it will not make any difference. "It is in this line and the objection of a certificate from certain groups of the Sikh Community, the certification process has been kept on hold," informed CBFC counsel Dr Abhinav Chandrachud.
For the unversed, the Madhya Pradesh High Court has instructed the CBFC to hear the representations of Sikh groups that had filed petitions before it.