Supreme Court refuses plea seeking deletion of jauhar scenes from ‘Padmaavat’

The Supreme Court on Monday rejected the plea seeking deletion of scenes from Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s epic saga ‘Padmavat’ which were eulogizing ‘Sati’. The plea was filed by Swami Agnivesh as he felt that it would adversely impact the viewers of the film.

Rejecting the plea by petitioner, Swami Agnivesh, the bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud said that once a film is given certification by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), then there is nothing that can constitute an offence.

The court said this as counsel for Agnivesh sought registration of FIR against the producer and director of the film as scenes eulogising were against law banning Sati. The petitioner had argued that the scenes of jauhar – the medieval custom of Hindu women immolating themselves in huge groups to avoid capture by invaders – were promoting of the practice of sati. (Also Read: Deepika Padukone goes easy breezy at the airport!)

Referring to the novel ‘Devdas’ by eminent Bengali classic novelist Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, Chief Justice Misra said: “Read the book and see its celluloid version in which veteran actor Dilip Kumar has performed the role of main character Devdas – who turns alcoholic for the loss of love.”

Noting that the writer was critical of this character and never justified being alcoholic, he asked: “Has any lover become alcoholic because of the film Devdas”, while telling the lawyer that he was “trying to make mountain out of trivial things”.

As the lawyer said that some of his friends have become alcoholic, Justice Khanwilkar said: “Sir, you keep bad company.”

‘Padmavat’ which saw a lot of protests and resistance before its release, which saw the top court’s intervention, was a roaring success at the box office. Featuring Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh and Shahid Kapoor, it was filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s take on 16th century Sufi poet Malik Muhammad Jayasi’s epic poem ‘Padmavat’.