The Law and Society Committee (LawSoc) of the National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bengaluru, has decided to call off the proposed screening of filmmaker Lalit Vachani’s documentary Prisoner No. 626710 is Present, centred on jailed activist Umar Khalid.
The student committee communicated the decision to the NLSIU student community after discussions with the Student Bar Association and the university administration. LawSoc cited what it described as serious threats of criminal action, intimidation, doxxing and other forms of harassment surrounding the proposed screening.
The documentary screening was initially planned in connection with Political Prisoners’ Day and to mark six years since Khalid’s arrest in September 2020 in connection with the case arising from the 2020 Delhi riots. The event was subsequently postponed and scheduled for September 19, with the organisers initially attributing the deferment to logistical and security considerations.
The proposed screening had faced opposition from the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), which had campaigned for the event to be cancelled. The controversy subsequently raised questions concerning the legal and security implications of screening the documentary on campus.
LawSoc has now stated that, following multiple rounds of deliberations, it would not proceed with the film screening. At the same time, the committee indicated that it intended to continue engaging with issues concerning criminal justice through other academic and discussion-based initiatives.
The student body has clarified that the decision does not amount to abandoning the broader discussion surrounding Political Prisoners’ Day or questions of criminal justice. Instead, it plans to pursue the subject through an alternative format.
On September 19, LawSoc held the inaugural session of its new initiative, The Criminal Justice Conversations, with a discussion on the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and bail, followed by an open-house arts event.
The controversy has also brought the legal status of the proposed screening into focus. Sources cited by Bar & Bench said that discussions between LawSoc and the administration included consideration of whether screening the documentary without certification could invite legal scrutiny. The Central Board of Film Certification had separately issued a public communication concerning the screening of an uncertified documentary at another educational institution, stating that public exhibition of such a film could attract the provisions of the Cinematograph Act unless an exemption was obtained.
The NLSIU episode has consequently placed questions concerning campus discourse, academic freedom, legal compliance and institutional security at the centre of the debate surrounding the proposed screening.
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