The Delhi High court division bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and V Kameswar Rao dismissed the PIL filed by designer Pooja Mahajan challenging the certificate granted by the Central Board Of Film Certification (CBFC) to The Accidental Prime Minister.
The bench refused to entertain the PIL on the grounds that the petitioner had no ‘locus’. This implies that the petitioner did not have the ‘right to bring the matter’ into court on behalf of other people. The PIL was filed on the grounds that the film would cause damage to the name and fame of the office of the prime minister, as well as several people portrayed.
An earlier petition by the same litigant, filed before the single bench of judge Vibhu Bakhru was also dismissed last week. The judge had asked the petitioner to file a PIL on the issue.
The petitioners are expected to take the matter to the Supreme Court, according to Medianama.com.
Directed by Vijay Gutte, The Accidental Prime Minister is based on the book of the same name by Sanjaya Baru, and features Anupam Kher, Akshaye Khanna, Ahana Kumra among others. The film will be released on 11 January.