No reservations on Aarakshan

No reservations on Aarakshan

Bombay and Madras high courts refuse stay on movie on quota

Decks have been cleared for the release of the Amitabh Bachchan and Saif Ali Khan starrer Aarakshan, a film based on the issue of caste-based reservations in the Indian education system. The movie has been co-produced by Firoz Nadiadwala and Prakash Jha. The Bombay high court on Tuesday refused to stay the release of the movie and also refused a pre-screening of the film for any section of the society. Simultaneously, the Madras high court vacated the stay on the release of the film following a settlement between the producers and a financier. While rejecting the request of two advocates who had sought a pre-screening of the film claiming that the movie could disturb peace and harmony in the society, the Bombay high court observed: "We are of the view that the petitioner's prayers for special screening of the movie before its release is totally misconceived and wrong. Hence we are rejecting it." A division bench of justice DD Sinha and justice AR Joshi has kept the petition for further hearing on August 22. Advocate Sanghraj Rupwate appearing for the petitioner, sought for a stay in the release which was refused by the court. The court remarked: "It is not right to impose restrain on the movie's release. There is no ground to do so." The Madras high court, on August 8 had stayed the worldwide release of the movie after financier Madhu Gupta and GG Photo Ltd claimed that dues of Rs3.75 crore had not been settled by the producers. On Tuesday, it vacated the stay after Zulfi Memon of MCM Legal said that they have reached a settlement. "We have reached a settlement and paid Rs3.58 crore to the financier," said Memon. The movie is now slated to release on August 12 following a premiere on August 11.