Rights under Article 25 are subject to other provisions of Part III.

(Prayer : Petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India seeking a writ of certiorarified mandamus calling for the records of the second respondent pertaining to the order dated 1.6.2006 bearing Rc.No.E-2(1)/54427/20006 suspending the exhibition of the film "The Da Vinci Code", quash the same and consequently direct the respondents to permit exhibition of the film "The Da Vinci Code" in theatres in Tamil Nadu.)

We may search in vain, for a more haunting tragic hero than Satan in Milton's "Paradise Lost", who rails at God,

"What though the field be lost?

All is not lost, the unconquerable will,

And study of revenge, immortal hate,

And courage never to submit or yield

And what is else not to be overcome?"

Milton's voice was not stifled or choked for making Satan a heroic figure, no, not even for two months. In fact, in "Areopagitica", the blind poet champions free speech :

"Give me the liberty to know, to utter and to argue freely according to conscience above all liberties..........

Though all the winds of doctrine were let loose to lay upon the earth, so Truth be in the field, we do injuriously by licensing and prohibiting to misdoubt her strength. Let her and Falsehood grapple; who ever knew Truth put to the worse ,in a free and open encounter".

The exhibition of the film, "The Da Vinci Code", exhibited and distributed by the petitioners, which is admittedly a work of fiction, was suspended for two months by the second respondent on the ground that various sections of the Christian community have expressed their strong resentment against the alleged objectionable content of this film, which is against the Christian tenets and they are likely to resort to various forms of agitation where the film is to be screened, resulting in communal tension and acts of violence, which will result in breach of peace. The petitoners are aggrieved, they say that their liberty has been unjustly prohibited by the State, and they are before this Court.

2. In 2003, the novel "The Da Vinci Code" written by Dan Brown was published. It is a work of fiction woven around an alternate interpretation of certain aspects of Christian belief and inter alia, proposes that Holy Grail is not an object, but it is actually Mary Magdelene who carried the bloodline of Christ; that this was suppressed by the Catholic Church; that there was a child born to Jesus Christ and Mary Magdelene after she married Jesus Christ; and that Leonardo Da Vinci was aware of this secret. In the book, a Harvard Symbologist Robert Langdon and a French cryptologist Sophie Neveu set out to unravel the mystery of the Holy Grail. This novel, based on which the film has been made, had been a best seller and had been sold worldwide in 44 languages. In Kerala, which has a sizeable Christian population, the book has had a very good sale and it has also been translated in Malayalam. The book has not been banned in India. The film was adapted from the book and it has been released in 65 countries worldwide, including countries with a predominantly Christian population like Italy, Spain, U.S.A. and U.K. When the film was submitted for the Censor Certificate in accordance with the provisions of the Cinematograph Act, 1952 ('Act' in short) there was an apprehension in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and therefore, the Honourable Minister invited a panel of Christian leaders to view the film, since the sensibilities of the Christian community in the country occupied the concern of the Minister. On 17.5.2006, the following representatives of the Christian community viewed the film:

Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Delhi, Bp. Anil Couto, Dr. Valson Thampu, Member of the National Integration Council, Dr. Donald De Souza, Deputy Secretary General of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India,

Father Henry D'Souza, Executive Secretary of the CBCI Commission for Social Communication,

Father Alex Vadakumthala, Executive Secretary of the CBCI Commission for Healthcare, and