The Delhi High Court on Monday rejected a public interest litigation that sought an interim stay on the release of the movie Bharat, PTI reported. The film, starring actors Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif in lead roles, is set for release on June 5.

The petitioner, Vikas Tyagi, said in his plea that the movie’s name violates Section 3 of The Emblems And Names (Prevention Of Improper Use) Act, 1950, ANI reported. He claimed that according to this section, the word “Bharat” cannot be used for commercial purposes.

A vacation bench of justices JR Midha and Chander Shekhar said the plea had been filed to draw mileage from the movie, PTI reported. They added that the petition was premature as the petitioner had not watched the movie. The judges also criticised Tyagi for ciculating the petition in the media before filing it.

In the plea, Tyagi claimed that according to Constitution, “Bharat” is the official name of the country. “I feel it is not appropriate to name such film or any character associated with this film after our great nation,” he added. “It is distorting the cultural and political image of our great country ‘Bharat’.”

The petitioner called the movie a “shameless, cunning stratagem to encash the deep-rooted feeling for our country”. He also urged the court to direct film-maker Ali Abbas Zafar, production houses Real Life Production Pvt Ltd and Salman Khan Films, actor Salman Khan, the Central Board of Film Certification and the Centre to change any dialogue mentioning “Bharat”, and modify scenes where the character has been compared with the country.

“A ‘country’ whose tradition and culture have been running for thousands of years cannot be exhibited by any single character or contained in any character,” Tyagi said.