Supreme Court declines to intervene in release of Narendra Modi biopic

The Supreme Court on Tuesday, 9 April, refused to step into the dispute over the release of a biopic on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, holding that the matter lay with the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) and the Election Commission (EC) rather than the court.

What the court said

Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, who headed a bench that also included Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna, remarked that “a lot of time of the court is being taken up in non-issues”. The bench declined to direct the EC to take any decision. According to the CJI, the censor board should examine the film’s content, while the EC should look at questions of publicity and whether the film ought to be released during the polls.

The petition seeking a stay had been filed by a Congress worker. The court said it would not entertain the plea because it was premature: the CBFC had not yet certified the film. Even if the film came out on 11 April, as the petitioner claimed, he could approach the Election Commission for relief, the bench said.

Monday’s hearing

A day earlier, the court had said it could not pass an order while the film remained uncertified, and the CJI had asked how judges could act when nobody had watched it. The bench listed the case for Tuesday and asked senior advocate and Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who appeared for the petitioner, to explain what the film contained and why its content was objectionable. It did not accept his request for a copy of the film. Singhvi argued that the producers were card-carrying BJP members and said he could only base his case on the trailer and publicity material.

Background

The film, titled PM Narendra Modi and starring Vivek Oberoi, was slated by its makers for release on 11 April, the first day of polling in the 2019 Lok Sabha election. It had earlier been due out on 5 April, but that date was pushed back after the EC asked the CBFC to look at it more closely. Opposition parties had urged the EC to hold back the release, alleging that the film was meant to bring the BJP political gains during the polls.

What happened next

The 2019 Lok Sabha election was held from 11 April to 19 May, with counting on 23 May. The BJP won 303 of 543 seats and Narendra Modi was sworn in for a second term on 30 May 2019.

See also: more election news

Originally published on 9 April 2019. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

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