Bihar Bans Padmavati

Bihar has become the 3rd Indian State to ban Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Padmavati. Earlier the movie was banned in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh and was unlikely to release in Rajasthan. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar issued a statement saying that the film will not be released in Bihar, until the concerned parties issue adequate clarification.

The Supreme Court has already dismissed a plea to ban the overseas release of the movie. It also rebuked state governments for their respective bans on the movie. “When matter is pending for CBFC’s consideration, how can persons holding public offices comment on whether CBFC should issue certificate or not? It’ll prejudice decision making of CBFC…All concerned people, holding responsible posts must be guided by rule of law and shouldn’t venture into passing comments on films which haven’t been cleared by CBFC. It’ll prejudice minds of board members while taking a decision,” Indian Express quoted the Apex court as saying.

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani had earlier stated that the film would not be screened in the poll bound state till issues were resolved.