Prakash Jha moves Supreme Court against ban on 'Aarakshan'

New Delhi, Aug 12 (PTI) Indian film producer Prakash Jha
on Friday moved the Supreme Court seeking its direction to
lift the ban imposed on the release of his film 'Aarakshan' in
Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh.
Counsel for Jha mentioned the petition before a bench
headed by Justice Altamas Kabir seeking urgent hearing of his
plea as the film is scheduled to hit the screens on Friday.
The bench accepted his plea and decided to hear the
matter at 2 pm Friday.
After Uttar Pradesh, the release of the film was banned
in Punjab and Andhra Pradesh on Thursday over certain
controversial scenes and dialogues, which the director said he
is ready to delete.
The UP government had on August 10 banned the film for
two months citing law and order problem.
The ban imposed by Punjab government will be in force
till a screening committee constituted by it previews the
movie and submits its report. The government feared that some
scenes and dialogues in the film may trigger trouble.
Hours after the ban in Punjab was announced, the Andhra
Pradesh government decided to suspend the exhibition of the
film initially for a period of one week, or till a final
decision is taken on the report of the Committee constituted
for the purpose, whichever is earlier.
The AP government cited the likelihood of the film
hurting the feelings of weaker sections that could lead to
protests and agitations and breach of the peace and
tranquillity in the State for suspending the film for a week.