The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Thursday adjourned its decision on a petition challenging the ban on the controversial Punjabi movie The Mastermind — Jinda Sukha, after the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) and the Punjab government sought more time to file their replies.
The petition, filed by the movie producers, came up before a bench headed by Justice H S Sidhu, who posted it for next hearing on October 20.
The CBFC had on September 9 revoked its permission for the film’s screening after initially having cleared it on July 23. The film has been banned on the grounds that it is against the “security and integrity of the nation”.
It is based on the lives of Shaheed Bhai Harjinder Singh Jinda and Sukhdev Singh Sukha, the assassins of General A S Vaidya — the Army chief during Operation Blue Star. The duo were convicted and hanged for the assassination on August 10, 1986.
The producer, a resident of Sangrur, has questioned the CBFC order, on the grounds that it violates Section 5(B) of the Cinematograph Act, 1952, which, he said, states that a certificate can’t be refused on the ground that a film is against the security and integrity of the nation. The petitioner further informed the court that the CBFC had cleared the film on July 23 after the necessary cuts had been made and added that no new material had been brought on record.
The producer has also argued that the film is based on facts and said he relied on letters, written by the two men to their families while in jail, for the script. The court was informed that Jinda and Sukha confessed to the crime, refused to appeal their conviction before eventually being hanged.
The petitioners further said they spent about Rs 50 lakh on the movie’s promotion alone.