The Delhi High Court on Thursday issued a stay on the release of the Hindi film Udaipur Files, which is reportedly based on the 2022 killing of tailor Kanhaiya Lal, till the Union government makes a decision about its contents, Bar and Bench reported.

This came a day after the Supreme Court refused to urgently hear a petition seeking to stop the release of the film. Udaipur Files was scheduled to release in theatres on Friday.

A High Court bench of Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya and Justice Anish Dayal directed the Union government to exercise its revisional powers under Section 6 of the Cinematograph Act to examine the film, Bar and Bench reported.

The section outlines the power of the Union government to revise and suspend film certifications.

The bench was hearing a batch of petitions, including one filed by Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind chief Maulana Arshad Madani, seeking a ban on the film. The petitioners have alleged that the film is communally provocative and vilifies the Muslim community, Live Law reported

The court permitted the petitioner to approach the Union government within two days, adding that a prayer for interim measures could also be sought. The Centre was directed to consider the application and decide on it within a week, reported Bar and Bench.

In June 2022, Lal, a tailor, was killed in Rajasthan’s Udaipur for purportedly sharing a social media post in support of suspended Bharatiya Janata Party Spokesperson Nupur Sharma. She had made disparaging remarks about Prophet Muhammad during a television debate in May 2022.

The assailants and several other persons accused in the matter were arrested by the Rajasthan Police. A video showed two men claiming responsibility for the killing of Lal as they brandished the cleavers used in the murder.

The murder case was investigated by the National Investigation Agency and the persons accused in the matter were charged under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. The trial is underway in a Special NIA Court in Jaipur.

On Thursday, advocate Kapil Sibal, representing the petitioners, said the court should “decide whether the film can be shown in the context of what is happening in the country”.

Representing the Central Board of Film Certification, Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma told the bench that 55 excisions had been ordered in the film, which showed application of mind by the film certification body, Bar and Bench reported. He further claimed that the film was not community-specific but crime-specific.

Advocate Shreeyash U Lalit, representing the filmmakers, referred to the chargesheet filed by the National Investigation Agency in the case. In response, the bench said that the film cannot be defended on the basis of material collected in an investigation.

Lalit also claimed that the film was a “typical India-Pakistan” one, adding that Sibal had taken dialogues out of context.

On the other hand, Sibal claimed that the film was filled with hate speech and portrayed the Muslim community as “ills of society”, Bar and Bench reported. “This is not right for the country,” he said. “This is not art. This is cinematic vandalism.”

SC clarification

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Thursday clarified that it did not issue any written order when it had refused to urgently hear the petition seeking to stop the release of film, PTI reported.

Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Joymala Bagchi made the clarification after Sibal said that there had been confusion about the remarks made by the bench when it said “let the film be released” a day earlier.

However, the bench said that it had only made an observation but not passed a written order on the matter.

On Wednesday, the bench had heard a writ petition filed by Mohammed Javed, one of the eight persons accused in the murder case.

Javed argued that the release of the film would violate his right to a fair trial. He had sought that the release of the film be postponed until the trial in the matter concluded. The petitioner also argued that the film, based on its trailer, appeared to be communally provocative.

In response, Dhulia and Bagchi said that the petition could be mentioned before the appropriate bench when the Supreme Court reopened on July 14 after the summer break. It added that the movie could be released in the meantime.