Adipurush| SC Stays All Proceedings Before Different High Courts, Also Stays Allahabad HC's Order For Personal Appearance Of Director & Dialogues Writer

The Supreme Court today in a Special Leave Petition stayed the order of the Allahabad High Court at Lucknow Bench which had directed the personal appearance of the Director and the dialogues writer of the film before the High Court and the constitution of an 'Expert Committee' to verify whether the depiction of the story in the film ‘Adipurush’ in conformity with the Valmiki Ramayana.

The Bench of Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia issued notice issued on the SLP of the movie makers and it also stayed the proceedings pending before the different High Courts against the movie.

Senior Advocate Harish Salve appeared for the makers of the movie ‘Adipurush'. Salve highlighted the various Petitions pending before different High Courts challenging the movie. He also said, "We have filed an application for a transfer of all matters pending before High Courts to this Court".

The Allahabad High Court had on June 28, 2023, while dealing with Public Interest Litigations, seeking removal of the objectionable dialogues and scenes from the Film ‘Adipurush’, directed the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to constitute an 'Expert Committee' of not less than 5 in numbers to verify as to whether the depiction of the story of the film of Lord Rama, Devi Sita, Lord Hanuman and Ravan etc. have been depicted in conformity with the Valmiki Ramayana. The Court also directed the personal appearance of the film director and the dialogue writer along with their personal affidavits explaining their bonafide

The High Court had noted that the issue at hand is a sensitive issue touching the sentiments and emotions of the public at large who worship Lord Rama, Devi Sita and Lord Hanuman etc and observed that "Religious Icons/Gods have been shown in the film ‘Adipurush’ in a shameful and disgusting manner as if they are fictional persons or as if they are comic characters."

The movie makers were directed to be present in person before the High Court on July 27. Recently, the Supreme Court had refused to hear the urgent mention of a plea against an order of the Allahabad High Court. A bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud asked the counsel appearing for the makers of the movie to mention it on Thursday.

Cause Title: Super Cassettes Industries Pvt. Ltd v. Kuldeep Tiwari And Ors. [Diary No. 25448-2023 & SLP(C) No. 14520/2023]