Tamil actor Vishal alleges corruption in CBFC's Mumbai office, I&B orders inquiry
New Delhi (PTI): The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on Friday ordered an immediate inquiry into Tamil actor Vishal's allegations that he had to pay Rs 6.5 lakh to the CBFC's Mumbai office for the screening and certification of the Hindi version of his film "Mark Antony".
Vishal levelled the allegations of corruption against the Mumbai office of CBFC in a post on microblogging site X on Thursday.
In a post on Friday, the ministry said the government had zero tolerance for corruption
"The issue of corruption in CBFC brought forth by actor @VishalKOfficial is extremely unfortunate. The government has zero tolerance for corruption and strictest action will be taken against anyone found involved.
"A senior officer from the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has been deputed to Mumbai to conduct an inquiry today itself," the I&B ministry tweeted on Friday.
The ministry also urged people to cooperate and share information about "any other instance of harassment by CBFC".
Official sources said Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur has directed maximising use of technology to ensure transparency in slotting and implementation of faceless systems wherever possible.
Vishal's sci-fi film "Mark Antony", directed by Adhik Ravichandran, was released in Hindi on Thursday. The movie also features S J Suryah, Ritu Varma, Sunil, Selvaraghavan and Abhinaya.
In his post on X, Vishal made an appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to investigate the "scam" that transpired at the CBFC's Mumbai office.
"Due to some technical issues, we applied for the Hindi censor certificate online at the last minute. But we were taken aback by what happened at the CBFC office in Mumbai.
"On Monday, when my person visited the office, there was an option given to us -- to pay Rs. 6.5 lakh for the certification the same day. We were left with no other option. We were asked to pay Rs 3 lakhs first, just for the screening. The rest Rs 3.5 lakh were for the certificate," the actor had claimed.
Vishal also claimed that a woman official told their team that it was a common practice at the CBFC where filmmakers would pay money for receiving censor clearance.
"Those who want the certificate in 15 days, they have to pay Rs 4 lakh. We had no other option, so we paid the money in two instalments and I got the certificate. Today, my film was released in north India. But this is very saddening.
"If this is the case in government offices, I really request higher authorities to look into this matter," the actor claimed.
In a statement, Indian Film and Television Directors' Assocation (IFTDA) expressed concern over the allegations made against CBFC officials and demanded a CBI enquiry.
"If any official is found guilty serious action should be taken against the perpetrator of this crime of extortion... This is a dangerous trend which will be the reason for bringing bad name to CBFC," IFTDA president Ashoke Pandit wrote in a letter to Thakur.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
NDA sweeps bypolls to four assembly segments in Bihar
Patna (PTI): The ruling NDA in Bihar on Saturday swept the bypolls to four assembly segments, retaining Imamganj and wresting from the INDIA bloc Tarari, Ramgarh and Belaganj, receiving a boost ahead of the assembly elections due next year.
Candidates of the Jan Suraaj, floated recently by former political strategist Prashant Kishor with much fanfare, lost deposits in all but one seat, in a clear indication that the fledgling party, despite claims of taking the political landscape in the state by storm, needs to cover much ground.
The biggest setback for the INDIA bloc, helmed by the RJD, came in Belaganj, a seat the party had been winning since its inception in the 1990s, but this time lost to the JD(U) headed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, the arch-rival of its founding president Lalu Prasad.
The JD(U) candidate Manorama Devi, a former MLC, defeated by a margin of more than 21,000 votes RJD’s Vishwanath Kumar Singh who made his debut from a seat that fell vacant upon election to Lok Sabha of his father Surendra Prasad Yadav, a multiple term MLA.
The margin of victory was greater than the 17,285 votes polled by Mohd Amjad of Jan Suraaj, whom the RJD may have liked to blame for its defeat by causing a split in Muslim votes.
JD(U) national spokesman Rajiv Ranjan Prasad said, "The people of Bihar deserve kudos for rejecting the negativity of the opposition and reposing their trust in Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Under his leadership, the NDA will win more than 200 seats of the 243-strong assembly in 2025."
The RJD also suffered an embarrassing defeat in Ramgarh, where Prashant Kishor’s prediction of the party “finishing third or fourth” came true. The forecast had caused Sudhakar Singh, son of state RJD president Jagadanand Singh, the MP from Buxar who had won the assembly seat in 2020, to threaten that Jan Suraaj cadres in the constituency will be “beaten up with sticks”.
Singh’s younger brother Ajit finished a distant third after BJP winner Ashok Kumar Singh, a former MLA, and Satish Kumar Singh Yadav who fought on a ticket of the BSP, which has little foothold in Bihar.
Jan Suraaj, though, was hardly a factor in Ramgarh, where its candidate Sushil Kumar Singh polled less than four per cent votes.
The BJP also pulled off a stunning victory in Tarari, which falls under the Arrah Lok Sabha seat, currently represented by CPI(ML)’s Sudama Prasad, who had won the assembly segment for two consecutive terms.
CPI(ML) candidate Raju Yadav lost, by a margin of a little over 10,000 votes, to BJP debutant Vishal Prashant, better known as the son of local strongman Sunil Pandey, who was formerly with the JD(U) and had joined the saffron party a few months ago.
Jan Suraaj had initially announced that it was fielding a former Vice Chief of the Army in Tarari but later disclosed that he could not contest because of technical reasons. Its candidate Kiran Singh got less than four per cent votes.
The most respectable performance from Jan Suraaj came in the reserved Imamganj seat where its candidate Jitendra Paswan stood third, polling well over 20 per cent votes.
The seat, however, went to Deepa Kumari, daughter-in-law of Union minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, who defeated RJD’s Raushan Kumar by a slender margin of less than 6,000 votes.
Manjhi, who heads the Hindustani Awam Morcha, vacated Imamganj earlier this year upon getting elected to Lok Sabha from Gaya.
With the exception of Ashok Singh in Ramgarh, the winners in all the seats shall be making their debut in the state assembly.
