Delhi HC stays TV telecast of film ‘Grand Masti’

On 21 August, Delhi High Court has stayed the premiere of Indra Kumar’s adult comedy ‘Grand Masti’ on television, which was scheduled to premiere on ZEEL’s Hindi movie channel &pictures on 22 August 2015 @10 PM.

A division bench of chief justice G. Rohini and Justice Jayant Nath said that the film cannot be televised under the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act. The certificate U/A alone was not enough for it to enable children watching the movie. 

The Court was hearing a plea filed by Edara Gopi Chand, seeking a stay on the telecast of the movie on television as it was replete with double meaning dialogues and highly objectionable content. The petition sought the quashing of the U/A certification the movie got by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) in January. This certification makes a movie suitable for viewing by children along with adults. 

“Its TV telecast will adversely affect the rights and interest of hundreds of thousands of minors in the country, especially children and adolescents,” the plea stated. 

In an interim order, the court said that “every time a child watches TV, it might not be under parental supervision.” 

While passing the interim order, the court also issued notice to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) and Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) seeking their replies by 16 September. 

In September 2013, the movie obtained an ‘A’ certificate. This meant adults only could view the movie. On 12 January 2015, CBFC deleted a section of the movie and converted the certification from A to U/A. 

‘Grand Masti’ stars Riteish Deshmukh, Vivek Oberoi and Aftab Shivdasani in lead roles. 

The case will be heard on 16 September.

Source: http://cablequest.org/index.php/news/legal-news/item/7748-delhi-hc-stays-tv-telecast-of-film-%E2%80%98grand-masti%E2%80%99

Source: http://cablequest.org/index.php/news/legal-news/item/7748-delhi-hc-stays-tv-telecast-of-film-%E2%80%98grand-masti%E2%80%99