Delhi High Court has said that it will not allow the release of Ranveer Singh’s upcoming film ‘Jayeshbahi Jordaar’ until the makers show the sex determination scene.
Looks like Ranveer Singh’s upcoming social-comedy drama ‘Jayeshbhai Jordaar’ has landed in some legal trouble, even before its release on May 13. With only a few days left for the film to hit the theatres, Delhi High Court, on Monday, said that it will not allow the film to release unless the makers show the scene depicting prenatal sex determination.
As per reports, the scene would first be seen by Acting Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Jasmeet Singh of Delhi HC’s division bench. Only after the bench has examined the scene as to whether it has trivialised a sensitive and serious topic of female infanticide, will it allow the release of the film. The double bench said that the film will be allowed to be released in the theatres once all the relevant scenes are shown.
Justice Vipin Sanghi said, "You take instructions. We will have to see or we will have to stay. You come back. Unless we see for ourselves, we will not permit this. We will take it up after lunch."
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A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has also been filed in the Delhi HC by an NGO named Youth Against Crime. The petition was filed through Advocate Pawan Prakash Pathak; it demands the removal of a scene wherein a clinic is shown where sex determination can be done.
The petitioner further argued that although Jayeshbhai Jordaar is a film that revolves around creating awareness about saving girl child, its trailer has advertised the use of ultrasound machine for sex determination. This is prohibited under the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, 1994. Meanwhile, the judges saw the film’s trailer on Monday. Upon watching it, they said that the film nowhere showed in the trailer that sex determination is a legal offence.
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"There is nothing to show that the lady is taken to the doctor clandestinely or that doctor saying that this is not legal or that parties are aware that it is an offence and that it is being done clandestinely. What is coming out is that any pregnant woman can be taken to the clinic and it can be done in routine...Suppose you show dacoity. It is an offence. You don’t show it in routine. You don’t show murder in routine," the Court said.
The judges further went on to add: "This activity (sex-determination) don’t trivialize it to show that anyone can walk in and get it done. The dramatization should be that they are aware that this should not be done, but it is still being done. It is happening in society that is another thing."
While the bench said that the film may have a good message to send across, it didn’t carry a disclaimer regarding the crime of sex determination.
Appearing from the makers of Jayeshbhai Jordaar’s side, senior advocate Jayant Mehta, said that there in fact was a disclaimer regarding sex determination being a crime. However, the Court said that the disclaimer was so small that it was hardly readable. While the matter was to be heard after lunch on Monday, it will now be heard on Tuesday, May 10.