Supreme Court refuses to stay release of Modi Biopic

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to entertain a writ petition from Congress Leader Amit Panwar seeking a stay on the release of the biopic on PM Narendra Modi ahead of the 2019 general elections.

A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna dismissed the petition holding that since the film, not having yet been certified for release by the CBFC which is the competent authority, the issue agitated before it is premature. Further, even if the certificate is granted, whether the film tilts the balance in favour of any political party is a matter to be looked into by the Election Commission.

The bench said even if the film is released on April 11, as claimed by the petitioner, it would be appropriate for him to seek a redressal from the Election Commission.

“We, therefore do not consider it fit to entertain the petition”, the bench said.

The CJI asked senior counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi appearing for the petitioner, “What do we stop when even the certification has not been done by the competent authority? And a two-minute promo can’t give us the idea of the whole movie. We can’t entertain this.”

The bench said that it is for the Election Commission of India to take a call on whether the release of the movie and its screening on the date of polls can tilt the balance in favour of the BJP or can disturb the level-playing field and whether the screening can violate the Model Code of Conduct.