No need to intervene as makers defer plans of ''Nanak Shah Fakir'' release: CM

Tribune News Service

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Chandigarh/New Delhi, April 10

In a twist to the controversy over ban on screening of movie 'Nanak Shah Fakir' in Punjab, Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh has decided not to intervene in the issue in view of the film-makers' reported decision not to release the movie in the state.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court cleared the decks for an all-India release of the controversial movie 'Nanak Shah Fakir' on April 13.

A Bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud said once the statutory body like the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has cleared the movie, no individual has the right to impede its release.

The Bench asked all the states to maintain law and order and ensure smooth screening of the film.

The petitioner Harinder S Sikka, a retired Naval officer and the producer of the film, had approached the apex court seeking protection of the Fundamental Right of speech and expression and the propagation of religious views which, he alleged, was being curtailed by certain section of the people having vested interests in scuttling the release of the movie.

The CBFC had cleared the movie on March 28 but, Sikka claimed, he had received a communication on March 30 from SGPC asking him not to release the film. With PTI inputs