The importance of exhausting statutory remedies and the powers of the Central Government under the Cinematograph Act, 1952 to suspend the exhibition of any film.

ORDER :

Satish Chandra Sharma, J.

1. The present public interest litigation has been filed by the petitioner, who is claiming herself to be a young student, being aggrieved by the release of a movie in the name and style of “RRR”.

2. The contention of the petitioner is that the movie has been produced by D.V.V. Entertainments and it relates to one Martyr Alluri Seeta Rama Raju and it projects that he was under the employment of the British Government as a Police Officer. He has been shown in the uniform of Police Officer. The petitioner’s contention is that the image of the freedom fighter is being tarnished by the moviemakers by projecting incorrect things about him and in those circumstances, the following prayer has been made by the petitioner :-

“For the reasons stated in the accompanying affidavit, the petitioner prays that this Hon’ble court may be pleased to issue a suitable writ, order, or direction, more particularly one in the nature of a writ of mandamus declaring the picturisation of the life history of two legendary patriots, i.e., Martyrs Alluri Seetaram Raju and Komaram Bheem contrary to their lifestyle in the file “R.R.R. Roudram, Ranam and Rudhiram” as illegal and arbitrary and consequently direct the Respondents 1 to 3 not to issue censor certificate to the Film “R.R.R. (Roudram, Ranam, and Rudhiram)” by preventing the Respondents 4 to 6 to release/screen the movie as per the scheduled date 07-01-2022 and pass such other order or orders as this Hon’ble court may deem fit and proper in the circumstances of the case.”

3. A detailed and an exhaustive counter affidavit has been filed in the matter by the Central Board of Film Certification and it has been stated that the Censor Board constituted under the Cinematograph Act, 1952, provides the detailed procedure for grant of Censor Certificate and the film in question is a work of fiction and in a work of fiction certain cinematic liberties are permitted. It has also been stated that even if the contentions of the petitioner are accepted, the characters of Alluri Seeta Rama Raju and Komaram Bheem are portrayed as highly patriotic. It has further been stated that the film talks about the historical authenticity.

4. A Division Bench of the Bombay High Court in the case of Hiten Dhirajlal Mehta v. Bhansali Production (PIL (L) No.4336 of 2022 and connected matter, decided on 23.02.2022) has held as under:- (paras 23 to 38)

“23. The trailer of the film was released on 4th February, 2022. Apart from PIL(L).No.4336 of 2022, which was presented on 10th February, 2022, PIL (L) No.5227 of 2022 and WP(L) No. 5235 of 2022 were instituted on 21st/22nd February, 2022. It is, therefore, clear that the petitioners in PIL(L) No. 5227 of 2022 and WP(L) No. 5235 of 2022 approached this Court more than a fortnight after the trailer was released. In the meanwhile, the petitioners did not choose to look into the relevant law for the purpose of ascertaining whether the Act and the Rules provide for any remedy to them, with the result that the statutory remedy remains unexplored. Instead of approaching this Court seeking discretionary remedy, which may be refused if an efficacious alternate remedy is available but is not pursued, the petitioners ought to have pursued the remedy that Rule 32 granted to them. There is no pleading at all as to why the statutory remedy is not efficacious. The rule of exhaustion of an efficacious alternative remedy applies also in a public interest litigation as it does in respect of a litigation initiated in private interest. If any authority is required, one may usefully refer to the decision in Jaipur Shahar Hindu Vikas Samiti vs. State of Rajasthan ((2014) 5 SCC 530), where it has been held as follows:

"49. *** In the realm of public interest litigation, the courts while protecting the larger public interest involved, should at the same time have to look at the effective way in which the relief can be granted to the people whose rights are adversely affected or