Govt seeks 6 cuts in Udaipur Files; release stayed till July 24

The Union government granted conditional clearance for the release of Udaipur Files, a controversial film based on the 2022 murder of tailor Kanhaiya Lal in Rajasthan, while directing six additional modifications amid mounting concerns that the film could incite communal disharmony and vilify the Muslim community.

- Utkarsh Anand

The government said this before the Supreme Court on Wednesday, as a bench of justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi continued a stay on the release of the film and scheduled the next hearing for July 24 to allow the petitioners to respond.

The bench told the filmmakers that the Centre's decision would be binding unless it was successfully challenged. “Centre's order will be binding, unless you challenge it and your plea is allowed,” the bench told senior advocate Gaurav Bhatia, who appeared for the producers.

Senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Menaka Guruswamy, representing Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind chief Maulana Arshad Madani and accused Javed respectively, opposed the film’s release and contested the Centre's clearance.