A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition filed by a lawyer seeking a direction to the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to revoke the censor certificate issued to Vijay starrer Mersal for its “anti-GST” dialogues has been dismissed by the Madras High Court on Friday.
Justices M.M. Sundresh and Justice M. Sundar refused to entertain the case on the ground that in a mature democracy, it is not possible to suppress the voices of the minority. It was ultimately for the viewers to take a call on the contents of a movie, the judges said.
During arguments, petitioner A. Ashvathaman of Mylapore in Chennai, wondered how the CBFC cleared the movie for public exhibition “even though the film was full of wrong propaganda about the country and contained fake dialogues and scenes which would lead to misconception about our new taxation system.”
He said, “The story of the film dosen’t demands the above said scenes and dialogues which contained fabricated and fake particulars. The CBFC is compelled to see that the young and impressionable minds are guarded against subtle machinations of pseudo artists and producers as the youngsters try to follow what they see in the movies”.
