The Supreme Court on Friday allowed the release of animated film ‘Mahaprabhu Jagannath’ across India on or after July 28 after Lord Jagannath’s Rath Yatra. A bench of Justices B V Nagaratna and R Mahadevan noted that the film is based on a web series which has already been released on YouTube and has been certified for screening by the Central Board of Film Certification. The film was supposed to hit theaters on Friday, but the Odisha High Court stayed its release. After that, the producers of the film approached the Supreme Court challenging the order.
Appearing in court for the state government, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said the holy chariot procession has started in Odisha and other parts of the country from Thursday. Earlier, the Odisha High Court had opined that objections raised about the manner in which Lord Jagannath was presented before the screening of the film required a detailed judicial examination. The High Court issued the interim order after hearing the public interest litigation filed by Mahesh Kumar Sahu of Angul, Dr. Pramod Kumar Acharya of Puri and Umashankar Acharya of Nimapara.
The petition demanded that the Censor Board cancel the certificate issued to the film and stop its public screening in Odisha. Petitioners strongly objected to the fictional story of Lord Jagannath’s childhood, dialogues and battle scenes depicted in the film. They say, these scenes in the film are completely contrary to the Skanda Purana, the Brahma Purana and the long sacred tradition of the temple.