Supreme Court pauses release of movie 'Hamare Baarah': 'Teaser so offensive'

The Supreme Court suspended the release of the film "Hamare Baarah," until the case is resolved by the Bombay High Court.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court stayed the release of the movie 'Hamare Baarah' and instructed the Bombay High Court to promptly decide on a petition claiming that the film was derogatory to the Islamic faith and married Muslim women.

"We have seen the movie trailer in the morning and all the offensive dialogues continue in the trailer," the bench observed while staying the release of the film. The bench stayed the screening of the film till disposal of the petition by the Bombay High Court. Shakil said the high court vacated the stay on release of the movie by an "unreasoned order". "The high court could not have directed the CBFC to constitute a committee because the CBFC was a party, interested in the litigation," she said. The movie, which is already banned in Karnataka, was to be released on June 14.

Now, Manish Srivatava, lawyer for the producers, said, "The Supreme Court has said that the High Court will decide the matter on merits, and until then there is a restraint on screening, so the High Court matter is going on right now."

Last week, the release of the movie 'Hamare Baarah' was allowed by the Bombay High Court after the makers agreed to delete two dialogues. The court stated that this decision was made only to balance the equities and mentioned that the film may also be required to be viewed to draw any conclusion with regard to the rival contentions.