Bombay High Court directs CBFC to share objections to film on Yogi Adityanath by August 11

The Bombay High Court on Thursday directed the makers of the film Ajey: The Untold Story of a Yogi, loosely based on a book inspired by the life of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, to approach the Revising Committee of the Central Board for Film Certification (CBFC).

After the CBFC's examining committee rejected censor certification for '' , a movie

The CBFC had earlier refused to give the producers, Samrat Cinematics, a censor certificate for the film. They must now approach the Revising Committee of the CBFC, which has been directed to inform the makers of the objectionable scenes or dialogues by Monday, August 11.

Thereafter, the makers must inform the Court of their decision on the changes they intend to make by August 12. The matter will be heard next on August 14.

A Bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Neela Gokhale had earlier asked the CBFC to watch the film and pass a reasoned order.

Senior Advocate Abhay Khandeparkar, appearing for the CBFC, submitted that as per the Court's direction, the CBFC screened the film and passed a reasoned order on Wednesday. He further submitted that the makers are at liberty to approach the Revising Committee of the Board in appeal.

He added that the objection was not merely that the film is based on a constitutional figure, but that certain scenes in the movie could be considered “defamatory” and “objectionable.”

Advocate Aseem Naphade, appearing for the makers, submitted that the Board had not informed them of the objectionable scenes in the movie before rejecting certification. He pointed out that under Section 4(2) of the Cinematograph Act, the makers should have been informed about the scenes that need to be excised.

On Wednesday, the Court had pulled up the CBFC for refusing to provide the exact scenes or dialogues that were considered objectionable. It noted that the two-line reason given by the Board was insufficient.

“This is not enough. You are not aggrieved by the fact that the film is based on a constitutional figure. If you think there are certain scenes that are in contravention of the guidelines, you should have brought it to their notice.”

It orally observed that the August 6 order passed by the CBFC was not in compliance with the rules.

Advocates Satatya Anand and Nikhil Aradhe also appeared for the filmmakers.