Chandigarh court on Tuesday issued notices to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP and actress Kangana Ranaut and others on a complaint accusing them of maligning the image of Sikhs in her upcoming directorial, Emergency. The notices were issued by the Chandigarh district court on a plea filed by advocate Ravinder Singh Bassi, who is also the president of the NGO Lawyers for Humanity. The respondents have been asked to file their replies by December 5.
Bassi in his petition alleged that Ranaut and other respondents have in the movie Emergency tried to 'malign the image of Sikhs' and particularly 'targeted' the former Jathedar of the Akal Takth by portraying him as a 'terrorist'.
"The accused without studying the proper historical facts and figures had portrayed Sikhs in bad shape and also made wrong and false allegations against the supreme temporal seat of the Sikh community as in the trailer of the movie it was shown that the sitting Jathedar of Sri Akal Takth Sahib was demanding separate state which is totally false and it was shown just to malign the image of Sikhs and the Akal Takth Jathedars," Bassi alleged in the plea.
"That by this act and conduct of the accused, they hurt the sentiments and feelings of the Sikh community in general and the deponent," the petition filed by Bassi, the former president of the District Bar Association, Chandigarh, said.
He also alleged that "the actress, producer and director of the film Emergency, whose trailer has been released on the social media platform is a trouble creator and many times, created differences between communities by uttering provoking statements and speeches against the minorities".
The petitioner has demanded an FIR against Ranaut and two other respondents under section 196(1) (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language and doing acts of prejudicial to maintenance of harmony), 197(1) (punishment for making or publishing false or misleading information that could jeopardise India' sovereignty, unity, integrity or security), 302 (uttering words etc with deliberate intent to wound religious feelings of any person) and 299 (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023.
Emergency's certification is currently on hold as it has not been cleared by the Censor Board. The film was earlier scheduled to hit the big screens on September 6, 2024. The political period drama, also written and co-produced by Ranaut caught up in controversy after Sikh organisations, including the Shiromani Akali Dal, accused it of 'misrepresenting the community' and 'getting facts wrong'.
(With PTI inputs)
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