Kangana Ranaut requests 1 month to implement cuts to Emergency film; Bombay High Court closes case

The Bombay High Court has closed a plea by Zee Studios for the release of the censor certificate of Kangana Ranaut starrer Emergency after Zee confirmed that the film's producers have agreed to certain cuts to the film as suggested by the revising committee of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) [Zee Entertainment v CBFC Division Complex].

According to an arrangement (based on an email communication between the parties dated September 28), the film's co-producer Manikarnika Films (led by Kangana Ranaut) has requested a month's time to implement the required cuts.

The CBFC will then review the film and decide on its certification within two weeks.

A Bench of Justices BP Colabawalla and Firdosh Pooniwalla took note of this agreement and proceeded to dispose of a plea filed by Zee. The Court clarified that it has not gone into the merits of the matter.

The censor certificate for Emergency, a film on the national emergency declared by the Indira Gandhi-led Congress government in the 1970s, was earlier withheld by the CBFC amid allegations that the film misrepresented the Sikh community.

On Monday (September 30), the CBFC represented by Advocate Abhinav Chandrachud informed the Court that the co-producer and lead actress in the film, Kangana Ranaut, had agreed to certain cuts suggested by the CBFC's Revising Committee to the movie.

However, Zee Studios counsel, Senior Advocate Sharan Jagtiani sought some more time to confirm what the cuts were.

Accordingly, the hearing of the matter was adjourned till Thursday (October 3). On Thursday, Zee sought further time to confirm the cuts, after which it was kept for Friday (today).

The petition before the High Court has now been closed, since the both film producers have agreed to the suggested film cuts.