Supreme Court declines urgent plea to halt release of 'Udaipur Files' despite trial concerns
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to urgently list a plea seeking a stay on the release of the controversial film Udaipur Files: Kanhaiya Lal Tailor Murder, effectively allowing its scheduled release on July 11.
The petition was filed by Mohammed Javed, the eighth accused in the 2022 Udaipur murder case, who argued that the film’s release during the ongoing trial would prejudice his right to a fair trial. Javed’s counsel, Advocate Pyoli, urged Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Joymalya Bagchi to list the matter for immediate hearing.
However, the bench declined early listing and directed that the matter be placed before the appropriate bench after the court reopens on July 14, missing the July 11 release date.
The film, directed by Bharat S. Shrinate and featuring Vijay Raaz in the lead role, dramatizes the 2022 murder of Kanhaiya Lal, a tailor killed by two Muslim men in Rajasthan’s Udaipur for his social media support of controversial BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma. The brutal killing, recorded on video, sparked nationwide outrage and communal tensions.
The petitioner claims the film, based on its trailer and promotional content, is communally charged and risks compromising the impartiality of the judicial process. He cited Section 6 of the Cinematograph Act, urging the Centre to revoke the film’s certification in the interest of public order.
The film was originally titled Gyanvapi Files, referencing the disputed mosque-temple site in Varanasi, but was later renamed to Udaipur Files.
Prominent Muslim organization Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind has also moved the High Courts in Delhi, Maharashtra, and Gujarat seeking a stay, alleging the film spreads Islamophobic content, endangers communal harmony, and propagates a Hindutva agenda.
Reliance Entertainment, the film’s distributor, has come under fire for supporting a project accused of vilifying an entire community through polarising narratives.
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'Go back to your own country': Indian-origin taxi driver attacked in Dublin
London, Aug 5 (PTI): An Indian-origin taxi driver based in Ireland for over 23 years has become the latest to be targeted in an unprovoked attack in the capital Dublin, with local police (Gardai) launching an investigation into the violent assault.
Lakhvir Singh, in his 40s, told local media that he picked up two young men in their 20s on Friday night and dropped them at Poppintree, in the Ballymun suburb of Dublin.
Upon arriving at the destination, the men are said to have opened the vehicle door and struck him twice on the head with a bottle. As the suspects fled, they reportedly shouted: "Go back to your own country".
"In 10 years I've never seen anything like this happen," Singh told ‘Dublin Live’.
"I'm really scared now and I'm off the road at the moment. It will be very hard to go back. My children are really scared," he said.
A Dublin police spokesperson said Singh was taken to the city's Beaumont Hospital with injuries determined as not life-threatening.
"Gardaí are investigating an assault reported to have occurred in Poppintree, Ballymun, Dublin 11 at approximately 11:45 pm on Friday, 1st August 2025. A man, aged in his 40s, was brought to Beaumont Hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injury. Investigations are ongoing," the spokesperson said.
The incident followed an Indian Embassy advisory, also issued on Friday, expressing safety concerns following recent attacks in and around the capital Dublin and urging Indian citizens to take safety precautions.
"There has been an increase in the instances of physical attacks reported against Indian citizens in Ireland recently,” states the advisory.
“The embassy is in touch with the authorities concerned in Ireland in this regard. At the same time, all Indian citizens in Ireland are advised to take reasonable precautions for their personal security and avoid deserted areas, especially at odd hours," the statement reads, adding emergency embassy contact details as 0899423734 and cons.dublin@mea.gov.in.
It came in the wake of a brutal attack on a 40-year-old Indian man at Parkhill Road in the Tallaght suburb of Dublin on July 19, described as “mindless, racist violence” by locals.
The Gardai had opened an investigation into the case and Indian Ambassador to Ireland Akhilesh Mishra was among those who took to social media to express shock over the attack.
“Regarding the recent incident of physical attack on an Indian national that happened in Tallaght, Dublin, the embassy is in touch with the victim and his family. All the requisite assistance is being offered. The embassy is also in touch with the relevant Irish authorities in this regard,” the embassy said in a social media post days after the incident.
A Stand Against Racism protest was also held by the local community in condemnation of what was described as a "vicious racist attack" and to express solidarity with migrants.
Last week, Dr Santosh Yadav took to LinkedIn to post details of a “brutal, unprovoked racist attack”.
The entrepreneur and AI expert stressed that it was not an isolated incident and called for “concrete measures” from the governments of Ireland and India to ensure Indians feel safe to walk the streets of Dublin.
His post revealed that a group of six teenagers attacked him from behind as he walked to his apartment in Dublin.
“This is not an isolated incident. Racist attacks on Indian men and other minorities are surging across Dublin — on buses, in housing estates, and on public streets. Yet, the government is silent. There is no action being taken against these perpetrators. They run free and are emboldened to attack again,” reads Yadav's post.
Fine Gael party Councillor for Tallaght South, Baby Pereppadan, was among those who expressed concern following last month’s attack.
“People need to understand that many Indian people moving to Ireland are here on work permits, to study and work in the healthcare sector or in IT and so on, providing critical skills,” he said.
Another violent anti-Indian attack in Ireland
— Journalist V (@OnTheNewsBeat) August 5, 2025
Taxi driver Lakhvir Singh was attacked with glass bottles while doing his job pic.twitter.com/mtkwhLWISx
