Delhi HC dismisses plea to stay the release of Salman Khan starrer ‘Bharat’

The Delhi High Court today dismissed a Petition seeking a stay on the release of Salman Khan’s film, Bharat, which is slated to be released on June 5..The Petition by one Vikas Tyagi also sought to change the name of the film as well as any dialogue in which the main character, Bharat, has been compared to India..The matter was heard by a vacation Bench of Justices JR Midha and Chander Shekhar after it was mentioned for urgent hearing by the Petitioner earlier in the day..It was the Petitioner’s case that the film distorts the political image of “our great country” and that naming the film “Bharat” was a “shameless, cunning stratagem to encash the deep-rooted feeling for our country”..“..I asked a plateful of people, what do you think the film would be based on which story? And everyone said- ‘the movie is named after our great country, so surely the film would be talking of “Bharat” (India). This is the very same feeling that I felt when I heard the title of the movie at first. .Film’s trailer was released of late and it was not up to our expectations, conversely, this film is fraught with Salman’s typical flippancy and vulgarity. Being a “Bhartiya” I feel it is not appropriate to name such films or any character associated with this film after our great nation..…Whatever character Salman plays, the portrayal deeply emphasizes on flippancy and vulgar behavior. No one wants his nation to be associated with such roguish and frivolous character.”, the petition submitted..It was thus argued that the portrayal of our county by such a flippant character would hurt the sentiment of people..The Petitioner further submitted that as per Article 1(1) of the Constitution of India, Bharat is the official name of our country. Further, as per Section 3 of the Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Uses) Act, 1950, the use of the name “Bharat” for any trade, business, profession etc is prohibited..However, the Court watched the trailer of the film and concluded that the case had no merit and dismissed the petition..The producer of the film, Salman Khan Films was represented by Senior Advocate Balbir Singh with Advocate Nizam Pasha. They were instructed by DSK Legal..Bar & Bench is available on WhatsApp. For real-time updates on stories, Click here to subscribe to our WhatsApp.