New Delhi:- Supreme Court today disapproved the use of expletives in the film ‘Udta Punjab’ but refused to interfere with the controversy arising out of it and keeping the issues alive by leaving it to the Punjab and Haryana High Court to examine them.
After hearing the nitty-gritty of the dispute, the apex court preferred that the High Court, which is seized of the matter, should look into the plea of an NGO which had sought a stay on the scheduled screening of the film tomorrow.
“We are not interfering in the matter. We are not going into the merits. Liberty granted to the petitioner to approach the Punjab and Haryana High Court which is seized of the matter,” a vacation bench of justices Adarsh Kumar Goel and L Nageswara Rao said.
It also objected to the strategy of the Punjab-based NGO Human Rights Awareness Association of utilising multiple judicial forums at the same time.
“You can’t raise the issues at the same time in multiple forums,” the bench said after it was informed that Punjab and Haryana High Court was also seized of the matter and the matter was also raised before Delhi High Court yesterday after it was mentioned in the apex court.
The bench said the NGO can raise the issue before it if it is aggrieved by the High Court order.
During the hearing, Anurag Kashyap’s Phantom Films, the co-producer of the movie, also faced tough questions from the apex court on the use of expletives and abuses saying “are these words actually necessary.”
“The language is very, very obscene. You can have your own review and delete these scenes. We are handicapped. We have not seen the movie, but the expletives … are these words actually necessary,” the bench asked.
Senior advocate Meenakshi Arora, appearing for Phantom Films, said the expletives should not be taken in isolation and should be seen in the totality of the film which deals with drug problem in Punjab.
To this, the bench said there were the issues of ‘drug addiction’ and ‘intoxication’, and added that those addicted do not use abuses but, instead, become restless, annoyed and show withdrawal symptoms, if deprived of the drugs.
“We have seen in legal service awareness camps, that those addicted to drugs do not use abusive language. When they are deprived of the drugs, they tend to become restless, annoyed and start showing withdrawal symptoms,” the bench said, adding that although the film is based on drug problem, the use of expletives may not have been necessary.
PTI
