Calcutta HC imposes interim stay on FIRs against 'The Bengal Files'

Kolkata, Aug 4 (IANS) The Calcutta High Court on Monday imposed an interim stay on the FIRs filed against the filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri's upcoming movie "The Bengal Files".

A single-judge bench of Justice Jay Sengupta had imposed the interim stay on the FIRs against the movie till August 26. The next hearing on the matter at the same bench will be on August 19.

Agnihotri and his wife, actress Pallavi Joshi, had last month approached the Calcutta High Court seeking dismissal of FIRs filed against "The Bengal Files". The matter came up for hearing on Monday, and Justice Sengupta imposed an interim stay on the FIRs filed against the film.

An FIR was registered against the movie in Murshidabad district soon after the teaser campaign for the movie was released. Later, another FIR was also registered at Lake Town Police in Kolkata. The main accusation in the FIR was that the movie might contain some sensitive matter that might hamper communal harmony in the state.

"The Bengal Files" is perceived to be the third part of Agnihotri's "Files" trilogy, the first being "The Tashkent Files" in 2019 and the second being the much-controversial "The Kashmir Files" in 2022.

Previously, the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government had been accused of issuing gag orders against feature films on allegedly flimsy grounds.

In May 2023, the Chief Minister announced the ban on screening of "The Kerala Story" in the state because certain scenes in the said movie can affect the peace and harmony in West Bengal.

Her decision attracted widespread criticism from the silver screen circles, rights bodies, and civil society nationally. Then, the intellectuals in West Bengal got divided over the decision of the state government to ban the screening of the movie.

However, in May 2023 only, the Supreme Court decided to set aside the ban on screening of “The Kerala Story” in West Bengal, observing that legal provisions could not be used to put a premium on public intolerance.

--IANS

src/vd