Article 15: SC quashes Brahman Samaj's plea seeking cancellation of film's CBFC certification

The Supreme Court Monday refused to entertain a plea seeking cancellation of the certificate issued by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to movie Article 15 and asked the petitioner to approach the appropriate authority with their grievances. “You go to the appropriate authority under the act,” a bench of Justices S A Bobde and B R Gavai told the counsel appearing for the petitioner. The Ayushmann Khurrana starrer movie Article 15 hit the screens on 28 June. The petitioner, Brahman Samaj of India, had approached the top court seeking cancellation of the certificate issued to the movie alleging that there were objectionable dialogues spreading rumour and caste hatred in society. [caption id=“attachment_6943541” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] A still from Article 15. Youtube screengrab[/caption] After the court said the petitioner should approach the appropriate authority with their grievances, the counsel withdrew the petition with liberty to approach the authority concerned. The film is  reportedly loosely based on the 2014 Badaun rape case, where two girls were allegedly gang-raped and hanged to death from a tree. A commentary on the country’s caste system, the film has drawn ire from the Brahmin community in Uttar Pradesh. Recently, the movie was  banned from being screened  in the Uttarakhand town Roorkee due to law and order concerns, but the ban was  later revoked . The ban was imposed after fringe outfits like the Hindu Sena approached the administration and alleged that the movie had “maligned” the Brahmin community. A day before its release, members of various Brahman organisations also  staged protests outside cinema halls  in Kanpur against the screening of Article 15, alleging it shows them in poor light. Addressing the issue, Sinha had issued an open  letter, reassuring the Hindu outfits that his film does not ‘disrespect’ any communities. He said that the intention of a film is never to disrespect society and one should not judge a film based on its trailer. (With inputs from agencies)