Change name or we won’t allow ‘Ghooskhor Pandat’ release: SC

New Delhi: Observing that the fundamental right to speech and expression did not give anyone the licence to denigrate a citizen or a community, Supreme Court on Thursday disapproved of the title of the film ‘Ghooskhor Pandat’ and made it clear to the producers that it would not allow its release if the name was not changed.

A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan issued notice on a PIL against the release of the film. SC said unrest and fissures already existed in society and the release would create further problems.

“Why should you denigrate anybody? It’s against morality and public order... We thought filmmakers, journalists, etc, are all responsible people and are aware of exceptions and reasonable restrictions (on fundamental right of speech and expression). No section of society should be denigrated. If you use your freedom to denigrate any section of society, we can’t permit it,” the bench said.

As a lawyer appearing for the producers informed the court that they were agreeable to changing the name, the bench asked them to file a response and inform it about the new title on the next date of hearing, Feb 19.

SC said creative people should refrain from disturbing fraternity in society by targeting a particular section. To underscore fraternity was under strain, it referred to an incident in Uttarakhand in which a Muslim shopkeeper was being forced to remove the word “Baba” from the sign board.

Earlier, a writ petition was filed in Delhi HC opposing the film starring Manoj Bajpayee and directed by Neeraj Pandey. The HC disposed of it after the producers assured the court that the name would be changed.


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