Delhi HC refuses to stay streaming of Gunjan Saxena, seeks Dharma Productions', Netflix's response on Centre's plea

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday, 2 September, refused to stay at this stage streaming of Netflix movie Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl , on the Centre’s plea that it depicts the Indian Air Force (IAF) in bad light. Justice Rajiv Shakdher asked the Centre as to why it did not approach the court before the release of the movie on Over The Top (OTT) platform, and said an injunction cannot be granted now as the film is already streaming. Additional Solicitor General Sanjay Jain, representing the Centre, said the movie has dented the image of the IAF as it showed that the force is gender-biased, which is not correct. The high court sought response of Dharma Productions Private Limited, which produced the film, and Netflix on the Centre’s plea to stop streaming of the movie. The court said it was of the view that former Flight Lieutenant Gunjan Saxena should also be made a party to the suit and issued notice to her, seeking her response. The movie was released on OTT platform on 12 August. It is based on the life of IAF officer Gunjan Saxena who became the first woman pilot to take part in the 1999 Kargil war. It has been produced by Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions. IAF had earlier written a letter to the Censor Board objecting to its “undue negative” portrayal in the movie, a senior official had said. (Also read on Firstpost —  Gunjan Saxena’s colleague says makers of Netflix film ‘have twisted facts for the sake of publicity ’) (With inputs from Press Trust of India)