Chennai, March. 24 (PTI): The Madras High Court today declined to entertain a plea by the Hindu Makkal Katchi, to remove certain parts of a song in the film 'Periyar' based on the life of social reformer E V Ramasamy 'Periyar', which it claimed hurt the sentiments of Hindus.

Dismissing a petition filed by HMK, a Division Bench, comprising Chief Justice A P Shah and Justice K Chandru, said "In our opinion the petition is devoid of merit."

Observing that the film censor board had provided a 'U' rating to the film, the Bench said, "We therefore see no reason to interfere with the decision of the Censor Board."

Applying the basic principles laid down by the Supreme Court, the judges held that film was only on the life and philosophy of Periyar and reference to his views about Vedic and Puranic deities was inevitable.

"Several books have been written about the principles and philosophies of Periyar and they are freely available in the market, including in the form of audios," they pointed out, adding audio recordings of even the lyrics, which had been questioned in court, were also available for sale.

The Judges said, "We are not persuaded to read the song in question the way in which the petitioner wants it to be read."