Quash the ban, screen the film | The Hindu http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/quash-the-ban-screen-the-film/...

Opinion Editorial

Published: January 29, 2013 01:23 IST | Updated: January 30, 2013 08:30 IST
Editorial
Quash the ban, screen the film
The delay in overturning the unjustifiable ban on Kamal Haasans Vishwaroopam is beginning to appear every bit
as unjustifiable. It is difficult to fathom the rationale behind the Madras High Court deferring its decision on the
films screening. Earlier, the court had ruled the film cannot be shown in Tamil Nadu until January 28, by which
time the judge hearing the case would see it for himself. Now that the special screening has been held, what basis
can there possibly be for deferring the decision once again and asking Kamal Haasan to negotiate the matter and
sort the issue out amicably? Courts exist principally to dispense justice, not to hand out advice which, in this case,
seems entirely gratuitous. Of course, there have been occasions when the judiciary has adopted a pragmatic, even
reconciliatory, approach, one that attempts to find a common ground between adversarial parties; the gulf between
formalism and actual judicial practice is a little wider than most people assume. But in this case, the court has not
even attempted to resolve the dispute. It has simply thrown the ball back at Kamal Haasan, asking him to find a way
out of a mess that was not his making. In doing so, it has risked the unfortunate perception that it is reluctant to
take a hard and forthright decision based on law.
There should have been no place for such temporising given the clear judicial precedents in such cases. It was only
two years ago that the Supreme Court set aside the two-month ban on the Hindi film Aarakshan on the ground that
States cannot proscribe films that have been cleared by the Central Board of Film Certification on the mere
apprehension that screening them may cause a law and order problem. As we pointed out recently in this space
(Responsibility To Protect, January 25, 2013), the landmark case that set the tone for such judgments was S.
Rangarajan v/s P. Jagajivan Ram, where the Supreme Court held that freedom of expression cannot be
suppressed on account of threat of demonstrations and processions and threat of violence. It is true there have
been regrettable aberrations to a judicial approach that has strongly refused to cower before blackmail and
intimidation. Only recently, the Supreme Court dismissed a petition challenging the Tamil Nadu governments ban
on the release of the film DAM 999. The ban on Vishwaroopam must be quashed and the police directed to provide
adequate protection to theatres and moviegoers. While it is the right of the fringe Muslim groups who are offended,
seemingly or otherwise, to protest against the film, any demonstration should be staged only peacefully. Anyone who
threatens or takes recourse to violence deserves to be dealt with strictly and punitively.
Keywords: Vishwaroopam ban, Kamal Haasan, Vishwaroopam special screening, Madras High
Court, Vishwaroopam release
Printable version | Jun 3, 2013 5:00:36 AM | http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/quash-the-ban-screen-the-film/article4354401.ece
The Hindu

1 of 1 6/3/2013 5:00 AM