Bombay High Court Dismisses Plea To Stay The Release Of 'The Kashmir Files'

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday (March 8) dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) petition seeking a stay on the release of the film ‘The Kashmir Files’. The movie will now be released on schedule. The Bombay High Court had previously agreed to hear a PIL filed by Intezar Hussain Sayed, who was seeking a stay on the release of the film.

A bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice MS Karnik dismissed the petition, directing the petitioner to seek redress from the central government.

Chief Justice Dutta questioned the petitioner whether he had submitted an RTI request to find out if the CBFC had granted a certificate. He questioned the petitioner, “Why should we lift the limitation and entertain this petition?”

The petitioner responding to the Chief Justice replied, “RTI takes at least one month.”

The Court then went on to say that it couldn't ask for the disclaimer to be extended and dismissed the petition to halt the film's release. The detailed order for the plea's dismissal will be made public later.

The film is directed by National Film Award winner Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri and is based on the 1990 genocide of Kashmiri Hindus. The film is slated to release on March 11.

Sayed, a resident of Uttar Pradesh, filed a PIL to stop the release of Agnihotri's upcoming film ‘The Kashmir Files’. The PIL was referred to Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Vinay Joshi for urgent consideration, and they agreed to hear it on Tuesday (March 8) at 4 p.m. The petitioner claimed that after the movie's trailer was released, it hurt the Muslim community's religious feelings. Agnihotri, on the other hand, has refuted the accusations, claiming that his film only depicts the truth.

The petitioner had also requested that the trailer for this film be taken down immediately until the hearing is completed.