Plea To Ban ‘The Accidental Prime Minister’ Rejected By Delhi HC; Asks Petitioner To File Case In PIL Format 

The Delhi High Court has rejected a plea seeking a ban on the trailer of the movie “The Accidental Prime Minister”, citing that it should be refiled as a public suit, reports ET.

Justice Vibhu Bhakre has reasoned that the petitioner, Pooja Mahajan, a fashion designer from Delhi, has no personal interest in the matter and hence should refile it as PIL (Public Interest Litigation).

Filed by Mahajan’s counsel Arun Maitri, the plea stated that the trailer violated Indian Penal Code (IPC) Section 416 since impersonation of a living character or living persons is impermissible by law.

Maitri continued, stating that Manmohan Singh, Congress President Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi’s consent has not been taken by the producers to perform their characters or their political life, or to dress and copy their voices in any manner.

The petition also stated that as per CBFC (Central Board of Film Certification) rules, films based on real-life characters require a NOC (no-objection certificate), but the trailer didn’t get any.

Mahajan had requested the court to direct the Centre, Google, YouTube and CBFC to stop exhibition and display of the trailer in the plea.

The film is based on the bestselling book of the same name by Sanjay Baru, a close confidante of Manmohan Singh.