Amitabh, Sony TV issued notice for insulting Netaji

On Tuesday, Mumbai High Court issued a notice to Amitabh Bachchan and Sony Television in response to a PIL which objects a promo of Kaun Banega Crorepati 5. The PIL claimed that it has insulted and maligned the slogan 'Tum mujhe khoon do, main tumhe azadi doonga', coined by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.

The notices were issued by Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice G S Godbole, who directed the actor cum anchor of KBC 5 and Sony Channel to file a reply by July 28. The court even involved the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and Advertisement Standard Council of India as respondents of the issue. Counsel for Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) Rui Rodrigues argued that Kaun Banega Crorepati promo does not mean to be derogatory, rather it meant to be funny.

The PIL filed by Mukesh Sharma claimed that five out of six videos to promote the reality show, Kaun Banega Crorepati 5 were insulting, defamatory and maligning to Netaji's slogan. The PIL said it was surprising why Amitabh did not excuse himself from playing his act in the promo.

On the sets of Kaun Banega Crorepati, Bachchan asks a child “who said this? -- You give me blood and I will give you freedom" and the child replies "just now you said it." The child stops in a confused state of mind, when Bachchan tells him, "somewhere you have heard this." Then Amitabh tells the viewers, "Ladies and gentlemen from the start I have been saying that any question cannot be small."

In yet another promo, two patients donating blood ask the doctor, "You took our blood. When will you give freedom?" and they laugh out loud. One of the other promo features a student, who kills a mosquito which sat on his forearm and says, "You drank my blood and I will give you freedom."

The petitioner claimed that these promos were immensely derogatory and gave the impression that people were unaware about the contribution of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose to freedom struggle of the country. This kind of insult to the great freedom fighter who laid down his life to free India from the British rule cannot be accepted, the PIL said. The petitioner stated that such cantankerous and surreptitious approach of the respondents will bring about a feeling of insecurity among Indians.