PIL seeking stay on screening of 'The Accidental Prime Minister' withdrawn

Chandigarh: A PIL in the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking a stay on the release of the movie’The Accidental Prime Minister’, was Wednesday withdrawn.

The bench of Chief Justice Krishna Murari and Justice Arun Pali allowed the petitioner to withdraw his petition.

“Before the arguments could start, the counsel for the petitioner sought permission from the court to withdraw the petition and it was granted,” Satya Pal Jain, Additional Solicitor General of India said here.

Jain along with another counsel Dheeraj Jain was representing the Centre and the Censor Board.

“We appeared on behalf of the Government of India and the Censor Board and we informed the court that a similar petition on similar grounds has been dismissed by the Delhi court,” said Jain.

The Delhi High Court had earlier in the day dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL), seeking a ban on the film and its trailer alleging that it defamed the constitutional post of the prime minister.

The petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court was filed on Tuesday by Anumit Singh Sodhi, son of Punjab Sports minister Gurmeet Singh Sodhi.

The petitioner had claimed that the film intended to show former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in poor light and spoil his image.

Sodhi also questioned the timing of the release of the movie just ahead of the Lok Sabha polls calling it a “political propaganda”.

He demanded the cancellation of the certificate issued to the film by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).

The film starring Anupam Kher as Manmohan Singh is based on a book of the same name by the former prime minister’s media advisor Sanjaya Baru and is scheduled to release on January 11.