Allahabad HC restrains Al Jazeera from telecasting film 'India....Who lit the Fuse?'
Prayagraj (UP), Jun 15: The Allahabad High Court on Wednesday restrained Al Jazeera Media Network Private Ltd from telecasting the film "India....Who lit the Fuse?" in the country, considering the "seriousness" of allegations made in a PIL against the movie.
Al Jazeera is a news channel based in Doha, Qatar.
A bench comprising Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Ashutosh Srivastava passed the order on the public interest litigation (PIL) filed by one Sudhir Kumar who argued that the film, if released/broadcast, is likely to create hatred amongst different religious denominations and thereby destroy the secular fabric of India.
Prayers were also made to command the respondents 1 to 3 i.e. Union of India, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and Central Board of Film Certification to review and certify the film in question before its telecast/broadcast.
The court also directed the Central government and the authorities constituted under it, to take appropriate measures warranted in law to ensure that the film is not allowed to be telecast/broadcast unless its contents are examined by the authorities, duly constituted in law for the purpose, and necessary certification/authorisation is obtained from the competent authority.
Considering the seriousness of allegations made in the writ, which are likely to have far reaching consequences, the petition does require consideration, the court observed.
"Considering the evil consequences that are likely to occur on the telecast/broadcast of the film in question, we are of the view that the broadcast/telecast of the film in question be deferred pending consideration of the cause in the present petition," it said.
"In view of the deliberations and discussions held above, we restrain the fifth respondent i.e. Al Jazeera from telecasting/broadcasting/releasing the film 'India....Who lit the Fuse?' till the issues raised in the present petition are adjudicated after notice to the fifth respondent," the court said.
Counsel for the petitioner submitted that though Al Jazeera is only a news organization but it has exceeded its ambit so as to broadcast films, position as investigations on its news channel with the singular intention of creating distress and endangering public order in the country.
As per the petitioner, he has reliably learnt from print and social media reports that the film portrays Muslim minority of living with a sense of fear and presents a disruptive narrative creating a sense of public hatred, which is far from reality.
The high court fixed July 6 as the next date of hearing.
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Stalin accuses Centre of trying to use women's quota as 'weapon,' slams EPS over delimitation
Chennai (PTI): Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has strongly criticised the Centre over the women's reservation and accused it of trying to use it as a "weapon" to tackle the opposition before taking up the delimitation exercise based on population.
"The Union government is not concerned about implementing reservations for women. If their concerns were genuine, they could have done it right away. Rather than doing that, the BJP-led Centre is thinking of using it as a weapon to tackle opposition and take up the delimitation exercise based on population," he told PTI in an interview.
"Hence, the women's reservation must be implemented immediately without showing delimitation as a reason," the DMK president added.
Expressing apprehensions on the proposed delimitation exercise, the CM said it was the DMK that raised the first voice asserting the rights of the state after realising that Tamil Nadu would be affected by the proposed exercise. He also attacked his rival and AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami over the delimitation issue.
Recalling efforts made by the DMK to raise the issue of population-based delimitation, he said an all-party meeting and a meeting of CMs under the auspices of the Joint Action Committee seeking fair delimitation were convened. It sought to freeze delimitation for 25 years and stick to it based on the 1971 Census population.
"We urged the union government that states which successfully implemented population control programmes must not be punished," he added.
The party came up with "Tamil Nadu poradum, Tamil Nadu vellum" (Tamil Nadu will struggle, Tamil Nadu will win) and this is DMK's stand, he said.
"However, Palaniswami, who is seeking votes for the entry of the BJP through the backdoor, has till date been mute over delimitation, and this is a betrayal of the people of Tamil Nadu."
