Sharjeel Imam moves Delhi High Court to postpone release of movie ‘2020 Delhi’

Delhi riots accused Sharjeel Imam moved the Delhi High Court on Thursday seeking directions to postpone the release of the movie ‘2020 Delhi’..The movie, which is about the Delhi riots of February 2020 and the anti-CAA protests, is slated for release on February 2. The movie is directed by Devendra Malviya and will feature Brijendra Kala, Chetan Sharma, Akashdeep Arora and Siddharth Bharadwaj as lead charactersAs per Imam's plea, the film, which claims to be based on true events, will have grave prejudicial effect on his trial and bail applications in the Delhi Riots matters which are pending before courts in the national capital..The matter was mentioned before Justice Sachin Datta by Imam's counsel who requested the judge to watch the movie trailer in Court today. The counsel for the movie producer stated that he has not received a copy of the petition and got to know of the matter from social media.The Bench refused to hear the matter today and relisted the matter for a hearing tomorrow..The petition has sought directions to conduct a pre-screening of the movie, to postpone the release of the movie till the conclusion of trial, and to take down its promotional material till the trial in the Delhi riots case against Imam is concluded. .Imam stated he saw the trailer of the movie in jail and is “extremely concerned” about the prejudice it could cause to his trial, as his character is shown to be playing an instrumental role in the larger conspiracy which is a matter of trial. “A film which seeks to portray a false, fabricated and fictional story as a story which is “based on true events” and wrongly brand the Petitioner as a “terrorist” or “traitor” will surely have a grave prejudicial effect on the trial, which is yet to even commence,” the petition stated..He further alleged that the trailers of the movie openly portray Imam and the other accused persons as terrorists, even though the accused persons have not even been charged with the offences till date. This could prejudice the trial, affect their reputation and social standing, it was contended.“To be labelled as a terrorist without final adjudication by a court of law not only prejudices the trial but also affects the Constitutional guarantees under Article 14 and Article 21,” the plea said. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB), Central Board Of Film Certification (CBFC), Delhi Police, the production house, director and producers of the movie have been made respondents to the case..The petition was filed through advocates Ahmad Ibrahim, Talib Mustafa and Ayesha Zaidi..Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.