Stalin seeks withdrawal of draft cinematograph bill

Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin on Tuesday wrote to union minister for information and broadcasting Prakash Javadekar, asking him to withdraw the Draft Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill, 2021, which the DMK leader said would infringe on the right to freedom of thought and weaken democracy

Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin on Tuesday wrote to union minister for information and broadcasting Prakash Javadekar, asking him to withdraw the Draft Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill, 2021, which the DMK leader said would infringe on the right to freedom of thought and weaken democracy.

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Stalin said the new draft has given rise to “serious apprehensions” not only among those in the film industry but also among all well-meaning sections of the society that cherish freedom of expression. It is unconstitutional, he said, to curb creative thinking of the film fraternity and impose conditions on how films are to be made. “Taking away the right to freedom of thought will only weaken our democracy, which has to be vibrant always irrespective of the parties in power,” Stalin said in his letter.

“As you are aware, a vibrant democracy must provide adequate space for creative thinking and artistic freedom,” the chief minister said. “However, the proposed amendment to the Cinematograph Act seeks to restrict it by restoring the revisionary powers of the Union government that was struck down by the Supreme Court two decades ago.”

Given that the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) accords certification to the films if they meet all the criteria mentioned in the section 5(a) of the Cinematograph Act, Stalin said that it is “excessive to add more laws and Acts to throttle the freedom of a creative form in the 21st century.”

As he has pointed out in his previous letters to union ministers over several issues, Stalin contended that this new legislation was intended to concentrate more power in the hands of the union government that goes against federal principles.

He said that once CBFC certifies a film for public viewing, it comes within the domain of state governments. The draft amendment restoring the “revisional power” to the Centre after the CBFC certification is a misuse of “reasonable restriction” clause under Article 19(2) of the Constitution.

“... it must be left to the states as law and order is a state subject,” he said. “But now, the Union government, by the proposed Act, tries to go against the spirit of cooperative federalism and transgress the powers of the state governments and its own CBFC. Incidentally, as a prelude to this amendment, the Film Certification Appellate Board, which was functioning as an appellate body against the CBFC, was dismantled.”

He pointed out that certain provisions in the Bill are practically difficult to implement. He emphasised that CBFC be allowed to function with autonomy, “so that we remain as a progressive nation, and where creative thinking, that includes art, culture and filmmaking, blossom without fear or favour.”

Earlier actor-politician Kamal Haasan and several celebrities from the Tamil film fraternity had opposed the new Bill after the union information broadcasting ministry had sought public opinion before July 2. “Cinema, media and the literati cannot afford to be the three iconic monkeys of India,” Haasan had tweeted on June 28. “Seeing, hearing and speaking of impending evil is the only medication against attempts to injure and debilitate democracy.”