Supreme Court directs CBFC to reconsider “U” certification of Sada Haq; Permits screenings in Delhi, Punjab and Chandigarh

The Supreme Court on April 26, 2013 directed the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to reconsider the “unrestricted” certification granted to the Punjabi movie Sada Haq..A three judge Bench comprising of Chief Justice Altamas Kabir and Justices Anil R. Dave and Vikramajit Sen passed the order in a writ petition filed by the Sada Haq’s producers against the ban imposed by the Punjab, Chandigarh and Delhi governments (Vital Media v. State of Punjab & Ors., W.P(C) No. 205/2013)..The Supreme Court had, on April 25, 2013 ordered, for a special screening of the movie to be attended by Senior Advocates Fali S. Nariman, Rajiv Dhawan and Rebecca John as well as Additional Solicitor General Indira Jaising..After watching the move, the senior counsels had submitted their report to the Court. They opined that the prohibition on the screening of the movie was inappropriate. They also submitted that the “Unrestricted” certification given to the movie should be reconsidered and “Adult” certification should be granted..The Court after considering the report submitted by the senior counsels said the following in its order:.“Upon viewing the film, the said learned counsel submitted their views in writing, from which it will appear that certification of the film as a film for “unrestricted” view was possibly inappropriate and that the certification should have been given for “adult” viewing………..In such circumstances, we direct the Central Board of Film Certification, Government of India, to once again review the certification granted to the film and to reconsider as to whether the same should have been granted a ‘U’ Certificate instead of a ‘A’ Certificate.We also have to advert to the objections which had been raised on behalf of the State of Punjab, U.T. of Chandigarh and the NCT of Delhi, regarding the exhibition of the film. We have considered the said objections, but having regard to the reports submitted to us by the four senior counsels, who had acted as Amicus Curiae in this matter, we are unable to sustain such objections and we direct that the petitioner would be at liberty to exhibit the film in the three aforesaid territories once the certification is reconsidered”..The Court also ruled that the makers, producers and distributors of the film have undertaken that the song ‘Baggi’, which was used for the promotion of the film, will not be associated with the film henceforth either for promotional purposes or as a background to the film.