- Bombay High Court will watch Ajey: The Untold Story of a Yogi before deciding on certification objections
- The film is based on the life of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath
- Court noted CBFC's rigid approach in rejecting the film's certification application without viewing the film
The upcoming film 'Ajey: The Untold Story of a Yogi' will be seen by the Bombay High Court, and will thereafter decide on Monday on the reasons or objections raised for the rejection of the film communicated by the CBFC to the Petitioner. The movie, inspired by the book 'The Monk Who Became Chief Minister' by Shantanu Gupta, is based on the life of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
The bench while hearing Ravi Kadam, senior advocate, Satatya Anand and Nikhil Aradhe, Advocates for the Petitioner (Smart Cinematics) opined that although an alternate remedy (appeal) under Section 5-C of the Cinematograph Act, 1952, is available, however, it is not an absolute bar on the exercise of jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution.
The bench observed that the CBFC has shown and has taken a rigid approach to reject the certification application filed by the Petitioner for certification of its film. The bench opined that the film will have to be viewed in order to understand the context of the objections and ultimately agreed to watch the movie.
The bench also opined that the movie has to be viewed in its entirety as per the guidelines. The court has reserved Monday for the hearing on the decision on the objections given by the Revising Committee based on which the certification to the film of the Petitioner was refused.
Earlier, the Bombay High Court directed the CBFC to decide the film's release date. The court allowed the Petitioner's prayer for screening of the film to complete the screening process as per the Cinematograph Act and Rules framed thereunder and also directed to convey its decision as per the Rules to the Petitioner by Wednesday, August 6, 2025.
Samrat Cinematics, the production house behind 'Ajey: The Untold Story of a Yogi', said, 'Today's outcome reaffirms our faith in the judiciary. This film is the sincere creative effort of over 300 industry professionals, and we remain hopeful that it will be allowed to reach the audience it was made for".
The court also observed that seeing the conduct of CBFC and the erroneous approach adopted earlier without following the due process of law, the court has kept the petition pending for CBFC's compliance.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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