NEW DELHI, Jul 10 : The Delhi High Court on Thursday stayed the release of ‘Udaipur Files’ movie, which is based on tailor Kanhaiya Lal murder case, and scheduled to hit the screen on July 11, till the Centre decided the pleas seeking a permanent ban on the film.
A division bench of Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya and Justice Anish Dayal directed the petitioners to approach the Centre within two days with their grievance.
The petitions, including one filed by Maulana Arshad Madani, Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind president and principal of Darul Uloom Deoband, have claimed that a trailer of the movie released on June 26 was replete with dialogues and instances that had led to communal disharmony in 2022, and carries every potential to again stoke the same communal sentiments.
The bench said that “admittedly, petitioners have not taken recourse to available remedy with the central government.”
“Since we are relegating petitioner to invoke revisional remedy, we provide that till the application for grant of interim relief is decided by the government there shall be stay on release of the film,” the bench said.
Udaipur-based tailor Kanhaiya Lal was murdered in June 2022 allegedly by Mohammad Riyaz and Mohammad Ghous.
The assailants had later released a video claiming the murder was in reaction to the tailor allegedly sharing a social media post in support of former BJP leader Nupur Sharma after her controversial comments on Prophet Mohammed.
The case was probed by the National Investigation Agency and the accused were booked under stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), besides provisions under the Indian Penal Code.
The trial is pending before the special NIA court in Jaipur. (PTI)
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