HC lifts ban on Vishwaroopam; Govt challenges the order!
News
oi-Prakash
By Ramchander
In
a
major
relief
to
actor
Kamal
Haasan,
the
Madras
High
Court
last
night
lifted
the
ban
imposed
on
his
movie
Vishwaroopam
by
the
Tamil
Nadu
government
after
it
courted
controversy
over
its
alleged
anti-Muslim
content.
But
the
government
has
challenged
the
order
and
the
case
will
come
up
before
the
first
bench
of
the
Madras
High
Court
on
Wednesday
at
10.30
am.
After
a
day-long
hearing,
Justice
K
Venkataraman
passed
the
orders,
paving
the
way
for
the
screening
of
the
movie,
which
was
reportedly
made
with
a
budget
of
nearly
Rs
100
crore.
"No
doubt,
for
maintaining
law
and
order,
the
authority
competent
is
entitled
to
pass
an
order
under
Sec.
144
of
Cr.PC,
but
that
does
not
mean
that
a
section
of
society
can
curtail
the
fundamental
rights
of
a
citizen," the
judge
said.
The
strangest
part
of
the
story
is
that
all
district
magistrates/collectors
had
taken
a
common
decision
and
passed
orders.
The
movie
starring
Kamal
Hassan,
Pooja
Kumar
and
Andrea
Jeremiah
unexpectedly
landed
in
trouble
on
the
eve
of
its
release
with
the
state
government
imposing
15
days
ban
after
several
Muslim
groups
accused
the
film
of
showing
their
community
in
a
bad
taste.
Meanwhile,
Vishwaroopam
has
been
released
in
Karnataka
after
police
offered
full
protection.