NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Friday directed concerned authorities of the Centre to decide the representation made by the petitioner seeking direction to ban the release of the film 'The Conversion' and to remove its trailer.
The film has been reviewed, scrutinized and censored by the appropriate authorities.
The bench of Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh on Friday directed the Union ministry of information and broadcasting and others to decide the representation sent by the petitioners according to rules, regulations, government policies and applicable laws.
The court also directed respondents to decide it as expeditiously as possible.
The petitioner, All India practising lawyers council through advocate Adil Sharfuddin stated that on 12th August 2021, an official trailer of the upcoming film "The Conversion" was released on YouTube.
The said trailer was released on nostrum entertainment hub on its YouTube channel. It has more than 39,000 subscribers and 31 lakh views from the date of release till the present.
The petition added that the trailer of the movie specifically depicts the biased and communal content of the movie in question.
It indicates the potential of communal polarization amidst of upcoming UP election since the background of the movie has been set out in Benaras UP, the plea stated.
It stated that the petitioner has sent a representation to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and also to YouTube about the alleged biased and communal content shown in the trailer of the film and also requested to remove the trailer and withhold the release of the film.
But the petitioner has neither been responded to by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting nor by YouTube.
The contents of the trailer of the movie are prejudiced to one religion and against the principle under which Article 19(2) of the Constitution of India is based.
The contents of the movie are based on illogical conjectures and surmise and without any data and the said contents viable to promote hatred among the certain section of society, the plea further said.