SC nod to film Padmaavat; to be released in all states on Jan 25

New Delhi: The apex court on Thursday paved the way for all India release of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmaavat, whose earlier name was “Padmaavati”. The movie is now set to release on January 25. The court order came after Gujarat and Rajasthan had banned the release of the movie in the two states. The Rajput Karni Sena is now protesting the Supreme Court order. A bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud considered the submission of the counsel of Viacom 18 and other producers of the film that the plea be heard urgently as the movie was set for all- India release on January 25. Governments of Haryana, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand have declared that they will not allow screening of the movie, which also stars Shahid Kapoor and Ranveer Singh in lead roles. The Haryana government, at a recent cabinet meeting, decided to ban the movie in the state. The producers moved the top court through senior lawyer Harish Salve and advocate Mahesh Agarwal and submitted, in a petition, that the movie has undergone changes including in its title as suggested by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). Asserting that the film has been cleared by the CBFC, the plea said the states cannot impose a blanket ban on a film and its screening can be suspended in a particular area or areas on account of law and order problem, not across the states.