NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday refused to stay the streaming of Netflix movie, Gunjan Saxena - The Kargil Girl at this stage, on the Centre’s plea that it depicts the Indian Air Force in poor light and dents its image.
Justice Rajiv Shakdher asked the Centre as to why it did not approach the court before the release of the movie and said an injunction cannot be granted now as the film is already streaming.
The movie was released on Netflix on August 12. The high court issued notices and sought response of the movie’s director Sharan Sharma, producers Karan Yash Johar, Hiroo Yash Johar, Dharma Productions, Apporva Mehta, Zee Entertainment and Netflix on the Centre’s suit to remove the movie from all OTT platforms.
The court said it was of the view that former Flight Lieutenant Gunjan Saxena, on whose life the film is based, should also be made a party to the suit and issued notice to her seeking her response. The court will now hear the matter for on September 18.
Additional Solicitor General Sanjay Jain, representing the Centre, said the movie has dented the image of the IAF as it showed that the force is gender-biased, which is not correct.
Harish Salve, appearing for Dharma Productions, said the Centre’ plea is devoid of basic particulars and he has also seen the movie which had portrayed the IAF in a very good light.
Neeraj Kishan Kaul, representing Netflix, told the court that the script of the movie was shared with the IAF in 2018 and the film was shown to them in February this year.