The Dabeerpura police in Hyderabad on Sunday booked a case against the makers of upcoming Bollywood film Satyameva Jayate, starring John Abraham, for allegedly hurting religious sentiments.
The case was registered after BJP Minority Morcha led a protest march and filed a complaint with the local Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) office in Hyderabad.
The protest was led by state executive member Haneef Ali and city general secretary, Syed Ali Jaffry. The protestors then met with South Zone DCP V Satyanarayana.
Following this, the Dabeerpura police registered a case against the makers of the film under Section 295(A) (Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings or any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of the IPC and relevant sections of the Cinematography Act.
The film is scheduled to be released on August 15. The incident had first surfaced last month when a complaint was filed with the Dabeerpura police.
Speaking to reporters outside the police station, Syed Ali Jaffry had said, "We filed a complaint with the Station House Officer (SHO) that on June 28, the trailer of a film released, which was produced by T-Series. In the trailer, one shot shows the festival of Muharram and it depicts a scene of Matam (self-flagellation). The actor is later shown committing a murder following Matam. This has hurt our sentiments."
"There has been an attempt to directly and indirectly hurt the Shia community in many films. We also complained to the local Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), who assured us that they will transfer the complaint to the organisation's head office in Mumbai," he had added.
The complainants threatened that if the scene is not deleted from the trailer and the movie, they would stage protests and not let the movie release. They also said that they would ensure similar protests were held not just in Hyderabad, but across the country.
Written and directed by Milap Milan Zaveri, the movie features John Abraham and Manoj Bajpayee in lead roles, along with Amruta Khanvilkar and Aisha Sharma.
The plot of the story seemingly revolves around corruption.