Sharjeel moves court, seeks stay on release of ‘2020 Delhi’
Sharjeel Imam, an accused in the 2020 Delhi riots case, on Thursday moved the Delhi High Court seeking directions to postpone the release of a movie ‘2020 Delhi’.
The movie is based on the riots that took place in February 2020 against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). It is scheduled to release on February 2, three days before the Delhi Assembly elections. The movie is directed by Devendra Malviya, featuring Brijendra Kala, Chetan Sharma, Akashdeep Arora, and Siddharth Bharadwaj in lead roles.
The film, which claims to be based on true events, has been challenged by Imam, arguing that it could severely prejudice his ongoing trial and bail proceedings.
The matter was mentioned before Justice Sachin Datta by Imam’s counsel who requested the court to watch the movie trailer during today’s proceedings.
“A film, which seeks to portray a false, fabricated and fictional story as a story that is ‘based on true events’ and wrongly brand the petitioner as a ‘terrorist’ or ‘traitor’, will surely have a grave prejudicial effect on the trial, which is yet to even commence,” the petition stated.
However, the Bench refused an immediate hearing and scheduled the matter for tomorrow (Friday).
Meanwhile, the counsel representing the movie’s producers stated that they had not received a copy of the petition and were only made aware of the issue through social media.
The petition urged the court to mandate a pre-screening of the film, postpone its release until the conclusion of the trial and remove all promotional material to prevent potential prejudice.
It further alleges that the trailers depict Imam and other accused individuals as terrorists, despite the fact that formal charges under such offenses have not been framed against them.
The plea contends that this portrayal not only affects their reputation and social standing but also undermines their Constitutional rights under Articles 14 and 21.
The case lists the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB), Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), Delhi Police, production house, director and producers as respondents.
