The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Plea against release of film on Periyar dismissed

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Mar 25, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Plea against release of film on Periyar dismissed

Special Correspondent

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Saturday found no merit in a public interest litigation petition seeking orders against the release of a Tamil film on Periyar E.V. Ramasamy. The Hindu Makkal Katchi had filed the petition, stating that a couple of lines in a lyric in the film offended Hindu sentiments.

Dismissing the petition, the First Bench, comprising Chief Justice A.P. Shah and Justice K. Chandru, said: "The film is only on the life and philosophies of Periyar, and references to his views about the Vedic and Puranic gods were inevitable. We hasten to add that several books have been written about the principles and philosophies of Periyar and they are freely available in the market."

The Judges, pointing out that the particular lyric was available in audio cassette/discs, said, "The film has been viewed by the panel members constituted by the Censor Board and it has been approved by the Board."

The Board has granted `U' status to the film, they said. "We, therefore, see no reason to interfere with the Censor Board's decision. We are not persuaded to read the song in question the way in which the petitioner wants it to be read."

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