India’s top court stays release of ‘Hamare Baarah’ over ‘offensive dialogues’ about Muslims

The Supreme Court has directed Bombay High Court to take an expeditious decision on controversial film

The Indian Supreme Court on Friday issued a stay order halting the scheduled June 14 release of the film Hamare Baarah starring Annu Kapoor. According to NDTV, the interim order came after the court took note of allegations that the movie contains derogatory and offensive content towards the Islamic faith and married Muslim women.

A vacation bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta heard submissions from lawyer Fauzia Shakil, representing petitioner Azhar Basha Tamboli, who claimed that even the film's trailer contained objectionable dialogues. "We have seen the movie trailer in the morning and all the offensive dialogues continue in the trailer," the bench observed while staying the nationwide release of the film until further orders.

The Supreme Court has directed the Bombay High Court to take an expeditious decision on Tamboli's plea challenging the film's release. The top court stayed the screening of Hamare Baarah till the disposal of the petition by the Bombay High Court.

Shakil argued that the high court had earlier vacated the stay on the movie's release through an "unreasoned order" and questioned its direction to the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to constitute a committee to re-examine the film's certification.

The Supreme Court stated that all objections, including the high court's order asking CBFC to form a review committee, have been left open for the parties to raise before the Bombay High Court during further hearings.

Hamare Baarah has already faced a ban in the state of Karnataka amid concerns over its potentially controversial content. The film's release across India was scheduled for June 14 before the Supreme Court intervened with today's interim stay order.

Have something to add to the story? Share it in the comments below.