The Maharashtra state’s ban on the screening of Kamaal Khan’s ‘Deshdrohi’, under Section 6 of the Bombay Cinema Regulation Act, will continue for the present, as the Bombay High Court on Monday refused to interfere with the state’s order. Nevertheless, a division bench of Chief Justice Swatanter Kumar and Justice Sharad Bobde asked the government to give a hearing to the film’s producer and pass a fresh order by November 20.

The producer and director of the film, Kamaal Khan, had approached HC to challenge the ban imposed by the state government. According to the state, the screening of the movie would create a divide between north Indians and the state’s Marathi population.

Opposing Khan’s plea, assistant government pleader, Niranjan Pandit, said, “Following the recent incidents of violence, the government was justified in not allowing screening of the movie.” Pandit also added that it was well within the state’s powers to impose a ban under the Bombay Cinema Regulation Act, and ban a film for a period of 60 days.

Pandit also made a reference to the recent incident when members of Raj Thackeray’s MNS had assaulted north Indian students who had come to the city to appear for Railway Recruitment Board exams last month. He said that the time of the release of the movie was important and the state did not want passions to be further inflamed as a result of the “objectionable material” in the movie.  

Meanwhile, Khan’s lawyers argued that the movie was in the making much before north Indians were attacked in the city and the appellate tribunal of the censor board in Delhi had cleared the film with a ‘U/A certificate’, after five scenes were deleted. The lawyers also offered to delete further scenes if asked for by the authorities.