Supreme Court to hear plea against blocking of Muzaffarnagar: The Burning Love in UP, Uttarakhand

The Supreme Court will hear a plea by Morna Entertainment challenging the "illegal and unwarranted" blocking of the release of its film, Muzaffarnagar: The Burning Love, in eight districts of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand through oral orders of the district administrations concerned.

Directing the next hearing of the matter on 11 December, a bench comprising chief justice Dipak Misra, justice AM Khanwilkar and justice DY Chandrachud asked lawyer Sandeep Singh, appearing for the petitioner, to serve a copy of the petition on the standing counsel for Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

Muzaffarnagar: The Burning Love is the story of the love of a Hindu man and a Muslim woman against the backdrop of the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots.

The film, which was cleared by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) on 14 July with a 'U/A' certificate, was released on 17 November throughout the country.

However, the release of the film was blocked in eight districts of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand — Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, Shamli, Saharanpur, Hardwar, Bijnore, Baghpat and Ghaziabad — on oral orders of the respective district administrations, said the petitioner who has moved the country's highest court under Article 32 to uphold his fundamental rights.

Seeking direction for the release of the film without any obstruction, Morna Entertainment also asked for damages of Rs50 lakh to compensate for the losses caused by the action of the district administrations.