Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Monday posted on June 16 the final hearing of a petition by Bollywood director and actor Amol Palekar challenging state rules that made the pre-censorship of scripts of plays by the Maharashtra state performance Scrutiny board mandatory.
Under section 33(1)(wa) of the Bombay Police Act, the commissioner of police or superintendent of police frames rules for licensing and controlling places of public amusement (other than cinemas) and performance for public amusement including fairs.
By these rules, for regulation in the interest of public order, decency or morality, prior scrutiny of such performances and of the script was made mandatory. After scrutiny, a certificate would be issued subject to conditions.
Mr Palekar approached the court in 2016 claiming that the rules were arbitrary and violated fundamental rights of the citizens.
Anil Anturkar, counsel of Mr Palekar, told the court that Maharashtra was the only state in the country which has imposed such restrictions on creative freedom of an individual. He also challenged the authority of the board.
“As per the rules, the commissioner of police or superintendent of police has to issue the censor certificate. We are challenging this authority also,” he said.
The bench, while posting the petition for the final hearing on June 16, asked the advocate general to argue the matter on behalf of the state government.
