THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Close on the heels of the controversy over denial of certification to a documentary film on Emergency, the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) regional officer A Pratibha has been removed from the post. She has moved the court seeking a stay on the Central Government order repatriating her to the Indian Economics Service.
The CBFC panel in Thiruvananthapuram had rejected the certification to documentary ‘Twenty one Months of Hell’ directed by Yedu Vijayakrishnan. According to the director, the panel had not given him any showcause till date to facilitate him to move the CBFC again for a review. He told ‘Express’ the panel members had objected to the enactment of violence and custodial torture of RSS workers who were arrested for agitating against Emergency.
‘The panel members objected to the film saying that it was a docu-fiction.They want the scenes of torture and comments against particular leaders and party be deleted. One of the panel members even asked me whether there was any evidence to the torture in police custody,” Yedu told ‘Express’.
The other day BJP state president Kummanam Rajasekharan had come down heavily on the CBFC for denying certification to the film that depicts police brutalities during Emergency.
Pratibha moves court
Pratibha told ‘Express’ there was nothing political behind her repatriation.The media reports in this regard are not true. She has already moved the court seeking a stay on the decision. “I have objected to the arbitrary manner in which the order was issued. Along with me, four others - Regional officers of Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai and Mumbai - have also been repatriated. Of them, officers in Bengaluru and Hyderabad could get stay on the order and I have also moved the court,” she said.
Pratibha had served for three years in the post and had one more year left to serve in the same post. An Indian Information Service (IIS) officer who was posted as her replacement could not assume office as Pratibha moved the court.