Gujarat HC lifts stay on Aamir Khan's son starrer 'Maharaj'

Ahmedabad: Observing that there is nothing in the film that intends to hurt the sentiments of a community, the Gujarat High Court on Friday lifted the interim stay to the release of "Maharaj", the debut film of Bollywood star Aamir Khan's son Junaid. The court said that the movie is not targeting the Pushtimarg sect as alleged, PTI reported.

The film is based on an 1862 libel case involving a Vaishnavite religious leader and social reformer, Karsandas Mulji. Some members of the Pushtimarg sect had filed a petition against its release on Netflix, claiming that it hurts religious sentiments. According to the petitioners, the colonial-era court, which adjudicated the 1862 case, castigated the Hindu religion and made blasphemous comments against Lord Krishna, as well as certain devotional songs and hymns.

However, the court reasoned that the movie was certified by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), India's film certification body, to establish that the film does not target any sections.

Justice Sangeeta Vishen had, on June 13, given an interim stay to the release of the movie on the OTT platform. In her order on Friday, the judge noted that the movie has been certified by CBFC and it does not target the sect.

The petitioners had approached the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and demanded immediate action to block the film from releasing, but the ministry did not give a response or action.

The movie is directed by Malhotra P Siddharth, while it was written by Sneha Desai, Vipul Mehta and Bernard Williams, IMDB the movie rating site says. The cast includes Junaid Khan, Shalini Pandey and Jaideep Ahlawat.