NEW DELHI: The Army has refused to grant a No Objection Certificate (NOC) to a film as it sought to portray a "romantic relationship" between a soldier serving in Kashmir and a local boy that would have shown the force in poor light and raised security issues, the defence ministry said on Friday.
Responding to a question in Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt asserted in a written reply that the approval process for the portrayal of defence-related themes is neither "arbitrary/discriminatory" in nature nor does it violate Article 14 of the Constitution.
The question was asked by BJP parliamentarian Varun Gandhi.
Bhatt said a total of 18 proposals were received from January 1 last year to January 31, 2022, by the Army for the production of movies, documentaries and TV series on defence-related themes and 16 of them were granted the NOC.
According to the details provided by him, one proposal was rejected and another is still pending.
"The reason for refusal for granting NOC is the portrayal of a romantic relationship between an Army soldier serving in Kashmir and a local boy which casts Indian Army in poor light and raises security issues," Bhatt said.
The minister said one proposal for the NOC has been received by the Indian Navy during the last 10 years and it is pending.
He said the Indian Air Force received a total of 13 proposals for NOC between 2019 and 2021 and none of them has been rejected.
"The approval process is not arbitrary/discriminatory in nature nor does it violate Article 14 of the Constitution of India. Each case is considered based on its own merits keeping in view the factors like national security, the defence of India, situation of law and order in the country/various states," he said.
Bhatt also cited "maintenance of discipline in the armed forces, ethos/customs of military service and general sentiments of the citizens and image of the armed forces in the minds of the citizens of India/general public" as factors in the approval process.
He said the approval process is not violative of freedom of speech and expressions, guaranteed under Article 19(1) (a) of the Constitution.
"The freedom of speech and expression is also subject to reasonable restrictions that may be required for safeguarding the interest of sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States and public order, decency or morality, or incitement to an offence etc," he said.
Bhatt said the "rationale behind the issuance of NOC to filmmakers and producers for movies based on defence-related themes is to ensure that the armed forces are not depicted in a manner which brings disrepute to the armed forces/government/country, as also to ensure factual accuracy and that no classified matters are brought out in the open domain that could effect in security of the country".