Petition moves Supreme Court for revocation of CBFC certificate given to Adipurush

A lawyer has moved the Supreme Court, claiming that a “distorted public exhibition” of Hindu religious figures by way of the feature film Adipurush is a violation of freedom of conscience, practice and management of religious affairs.

Advocate Mamta Rani, the petitioner appearing through advocate Shailendra Mani Tripathi, has urged the apex court to direct the revocation of the certificate granted by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) for the public exhibition of the film. The petitioner asked the court to direct the competent authority to exercise its powers under the Cinematograph Act, 1952 in this regard.

The petition said the film certificate should be revoked “for hurting the sentiments of Hindu community and devotees of Lord Ram and Lord Hanuman and other deities by distorting and destroying the fundamental values and characters of the deities by altering and modifying the basic structure of sacred text in their screen adaptation of Valmiki Ramayana, and thus being violative of statutory provision embodied in Section 5B of Cinematograph Act 1952”.

“The sacred fundamental texts/manuscripts are the basic spiritual and physical tenets of a cultured society upon which the common man relies on. A man becomes an orphan like a fallen leaf from the branch of a tree without his culture and traditions,” the petition explained.