Andhra Pradesh High Court Reserves Order In Plea Against Release Of 'Rajdhani Files' Over Alleged Defamation Of CM Jagan Mohan Reddy

The Andhra Pradesh High Court has reserved its verdict on a petition filed by YSR Congress Party challenging the censor certificate issued by the Central Board of Film Certification to film 'Rajdhani Files'.

As per the petition, the film is defamatory in nature and aims at diluting the reputation of the Party and its President Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, the serving Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. The plea was filed after the release of film's trailer on the 5th of this month.

The movie is alleged to be based on the 'Three Capitals Issue' of Andhra Pradesh and the party alleged that the film depicts the CM as an "antagonist". It has argued that since the issue of the capital cities of Andhra Pradesh is sub-judice, making a film on the same is not acceptable.

The respondents have contended that the certificate for theatrical release was obtained following due process of law. It was argued that the crew had approached the CBFC in September last year and the Board after watching the movie had suggested multiple cuts and edits to the movie. The suggestions by the CBFC were implemented, and the movie was examined by the examining committee. Once the examination committee was satisfied, it issued a Certificate as per the Film Certification Rules on 19th October for theatrical release.

The respondents further contended that after the initial certificate was issued, a revising committee was also put in place to re-examine the certificate, and the revising committee too granted certificate on 18th December. It was contended that the allegations of defamation in the petition were vague, no names were used in the movie, and even the name of the State had been changed; as such the film was thoroughly fictional.

The respondents have relied on the judgements of the Apex court to argue that once a certificate is issued, a prima facie presumption is created in favor of the certificate holder. Lastly, it was contended that the certificate was uploaded on the website last year itself and the Petitioners could not approach the Court on the '11th hour' seeking relief.

The petitioners on the other hand contended that although there might be prima facie presumption in favor of the certificate, the court is bound to inspect the validity of the Certificate when contradictory evidence is brought to light. Further, it was contended that the petitioners have approached the Court as soon as the trailer of the movie was released on 5th of this month. The Counsel contended that the certificate being uploaded would hold no weightage, as defamation could not be established without seeing the trailer.

After hearing both the parties at length, Justice Ninala Jayasurya reserved the matter for orders.

Case no.: WP 3778 of 2024

Counsel for petitioner: Manoj Reddy L