SC stays release of movie ‘Hamare Baarah’

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the June 14 release of Annu Kapoor’s movie “Hamare Baarah” after taking note of allegations that the film is derogatory to the Islamic faith and married Muslim women.

A vacation bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta took note of the submissions of lawyer Fauzia Shakil, who represented the petitioner Azhar Basha Tamboli, and asked the Bombay High Court to take an expeditious decision on the plea.

“We have seen the movie trailer in the morning and all the offensive dialogues continue in the trailer,” the bench observed while staying the release of the film.

The bench stayed the screening of the film till disposal of the petition by the Bombay High Court.

Shakil said the high court vacated the stay on release of the movie by an “unreasoned order”.

“The high court could not have directed the CBFC to constitute a committee because the CBFC was a party, interested in the litigation,” she said.

All objections, including the direction to the Central Board of Flim Certification (CBFC) to select the committee, have been left open for the parties to raise before the high court, the top court said.

The movie, which is already banned in Karnataka, was to be released on June 14.