BMukesh Bhatt described the growing instances of frivolous litigations as an abuse of the legal system
Mumbai:
Film and Television ProducersGuild (FTPG) has sought the Centre's intervention todiscourage frivolous litigations challenging the content offilms that have been certified for exhibition by the CBFC.
In a letter to the new Information and BroadcastingMinister Manish Tiwari on November 9, Guild president MukeshBhatt said the judicial process has been ill-treated bypolitical parties and fake interest groups to achieve selfadvertisement.
"Even kickstarting a procedure by initiatinglitigation and summoning the CBFC, producers, directors,actors, distributors of the films is sufficient to givemammoth publicity to the litigant on one hand and cause undueharassment to those associated with the film on the otherhand," Bhatt wrote.
The filmmaker noted that a film scheduled for releaseis therefore perceived as a potential wage for undue gains interms of money, fame, publicity and it has become a preferredtendency to approach courts at the last minute before thescheduled release to suit such malafide purpose.
Bhatt described the growing instances of frivolouslitigations as an abuse of the legal system, which is meantfor protection of individual rights and freedom.
Moreover, any attempt to trigger the process ofpre-censorship by addressing frivolous letters to the CBFC, ashas been done in several instances, results in CBFC beingover-cautious, conservative and using a magnifying glass tocertify films for public exhibition, Bhatt said.
The freedom of speech and expression of a filmmaker isthus jeopardised when the CBFC acts in an unstructured andconventional manner, Bhatt said.
"It is disheartening to mention that the film makershave also been exploited at the instance of government andpublic authorities who have themselves demonstrated lack offaith in the CBFC as statutory body constituted forcertification. Films such as Aarakshan and Mausam arewitnesses to such exploitation," Bhatt said.
The need of the hour is to instill faith in the expertbody which comprises of qualified members competent to certifyfilms, he said.
In a letter to the new Information and BroadcastingMinister Manish Tiwari on November 9, Guild president MukeshBhatt said the judicial process has been ill-treated bypolitical parties and fake interest groups to achieve selfadvertisement.
"Even kickstarting a procedure by initiatinglitigation and summoning the CBFC, producers, directors,actors, distributors of the films is sufficient to givemammoth publicity to the litigant on one hand and cause undueharassment to those associated with the film on the otherhand," Bhatt wrote.
The filmmaker noted that a film scheduled for releaseis therefore perceived as a potential wage for undue gains interms of money, fame, publicity and it has become a preferredtendency to approach courts at the last minute before thescheduled release to suit such malafide purpose.
Bhatt described the growing instances of frivolouslitigations as an abuse of the legal system, which is meantfor protection of individual rights and freedom.
Moreover, any attempt to trigger the process ofpre-censorship by addressing frivolous letters to the CBFC, ashas been done in several instances, results in CBFC beingover-cautious, conservative and using a magnifying glass tocertify films for public exhibition, Bhatt said.
The freedom of speech and expression of a filmmaker isthus jeopardised when the CBFC acts in an unstructured andconventional manner, Bhatt said.
"It is disheartening to mention that the film makershave also been exploited at the instance of government andpublic authorities who have themselves demonstrated lack offaith in the CBFC as statutory body constituted forcertification. Films such as Aarakshan and Mausam arewitnesses to such exploitation," Bhatt said.
The need of the hour is to instill faith in the expertbody which comprises of qualified members competent to certifyfilms, he said.
