The Supreme Court on Tuesday transferred to itself, the petition filed by actor Kamal Hasan seeking release of his film Thug Life in Karnataka.
The Bench of Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice Manmohan issued notice to the State of Karnataka, directing it to file its response within 24 hours.
The Apex Court observed that once a movie was certified by the Central Board of Film Certification, a mob could not put a gun to the head of theatre owners to ban its screening.
Referring to an earlier verdict, wherein the court intervened for staging of a play on Nathuram Godse, the top court of the country said both the Apex Court and High Courts were custodians of the rule of law and rights.
The Karnataka High Court had no business to seek ‘apology or regret’ from Hasan for his remark on Kannada language, it noted.
Earlier on June 13, the Apex Court sought response from the Karnataka government on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) challenging the extra-judicial ban imposed on the screening of Tamil feature film Thug Life in the state.
The order was passed by the Bench of Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice Manmohan.
The Counsel for petitioner Mahesh Reddy submitted that the state of Karnataka had completely capitulated to extremist elements, who were attacking linguistic minorities and calling for the burning of theatres.
The Apex Court observed that a duly CBFC-certified Tamil feature film Thug Life was not allowed to be screened in the theatres of Karnataka. The so-called ban under the threat of violence stemmed not from any lawful process but from a deliberate campaign of terror, including explicit threat of arson against cinema halls, incitement of large-scale violence targeting linguistic minorities.
While mentioning the matter for urgent listing on June 9, Advocate Navpreet Kaur, appearing for the petitioner, submitted that the matter concerned the law and order situation in the state of Karnataka.
He contended that fringe elements and organisations were giving open threat to set the theatres on fire if they displayed a Tamil movie. Such was the intensity of the threats that the petitioner had to move the Apex Court to seek protection for cinemas and theatres, added the Counsel.
The top court of the country initially refused to entertain the petition, asking the petitioner to approach the High Court.
Kaur then apprised the Bench that the producer of the film had approached the High Court, but no relief was granted. The High Court suggested a compromise with the perpetrators intimidating the actors, she noted.
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