The Madras HC stayed an FIR filed against Sarkar director AR Murugadoss.
Justice Anand Venkatesh, before whom the director’s petition to quash an FIR filed against him came up for hearing, said that asking directors to give an assurance that they would not criticise the Government in their work was tantamount to threatening them. The Judge observed that films should only be viewed as films. He also questioned how an FIR could be filed by the Police based on a petition.
He stayed the FIR and posted the matter for review after six weeks.
A spokesperson for the director said that the Madras HC has clearly established that AR Murugadoss is within his rights to make content that is critical of Governmental policies. “He has the right to free speech and that has been established very clearly here. We will take the case to the finish line.”
The spokesperson also said that scenes considered offensive had already been removed and are not an issue anymore. “There’s no basis for the case and the FIR filed. Even the CBFC has given us a certificate and the masses have seen the movie,” he added.
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AR Murugadoss was forced to delete a scene from Sarkar (that released over Deepavali this year) that showed people in Tamil Nadu throwing away the freebies given to them by the Government and setting them on fire. This scene was deemed to be offensive to the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s flagship scheme through which the party gave away essential household appliances for free to the public. The late TN Chief Minister J Jayalalitha had included this scheme as part of her election manifesto.
The AIADMK contended that the scenes portrayed the party in a negative light. Following this, cadres of the party protested against the film in TN. It was only when the movie team decided to delete the scene that the protestors relented.