Supreme Court refuses to stay the release of ‘Udaipur Files’ based on Kanhaiya Lal murder, lawyer of accused Mohammad Javed claims movie is not based on actual incident
The Supreme Court on Wednesday (9th July) refused to stop the release of the movie ‘Udaipur Files: Kanhaiyalal Tailor Murder’ by declining urgent hearing of a petition challenging the release of the movie. The plea was filed by Mohammed Javed, one of the accused in the brutal murder case of tailor Kanhaiya Lal. A vacation bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Joymalya Bagchi said that the petition can be mentioned before the appropriate bench when the Supreme Court reopens after summer vacation on 14th July.
When the counsel for the accused apprised the court that the movie, set to be released on 11th July, will be released before the court reopens, the court said that let the movie release. “It is releasing on Friday Trailer was released on July 4. They are showing only the prosecution side,” the counsel for the accused said, to which the top court replied, “Mention before the court concerned on reopening. Let it be released”.
Counsel for Mohammad Javed, who is accused number 8 in Kanhaiya Lal’s murder case, contended before the court that the movie is being portrayed as a true story and therefore will prejudice the proceedings in the case. He tried to imply that the incidents shown in the movie actually didn’t take place.
He said “Releasing such a trailer at this juncture, portraying the accused as guilty and the story as conclusively true, has the potential to seriously prejudice the ongoing proceedings. It compromises the presumption of innocence and risks influencing public opinion in a manner that could affect the fairness of the trial. This directly impacts the right to a free and fair trial of the Petitioner, as guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India,” the counsel submitted before the court.
“The trailer and promotional material of the said film contain content that is provocative and communally sensitive, which has the potential to disturb the religious harmony of the country and interfere with the ongoing judicial proceedings, as the matter is currently sub judice before a Special NIA Court,” the counsel added.
However, the claims of the lawyer are baseless, as the killers of Kanhaiya Lal brutally beheaded him on camera. Moreover, after killing him in cold blood in broad daylight, they recorded a video remorselessly boasting about killing Kanhaiya Lal and threatening PM Modi.
Therefore, the contention that the movie is being portrayed as a true story, as it is in fact based on a true story. However, the case remains under trial and nobody has been convicted yet. While the accused number 8 Mohammed Javed may or may not be convicted based on evidence, there is no doubt that the two killers will be convicted.
Another petition filed by Islamic clerics’ body, Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, challenging the release of the movie is pending before the Delhi High Court. The Islamic body has filed several petitions against the release of the movie in different High Courts. Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, which has a history of protecting terrorists, objected to a movie based on the life of Kanhaiya Lal and his eventual murder by two Islamic terrorists. It has approached the High Courts of Delhi, Gujarat and Maharashtra to stop the release of ‘Udaipur Files Kanhaiya Lal Tailor Murder.’
Brutal murder of Kanhaiya Lal Murder
In June 2022, a Hindu tailor named Kanhaiya Lal was brutally murdered by two Islamists identified as Mohammed Riyaz Akhtar and Mohammed Gos for an alleged post in support of former spokesperson of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Nupur Sharma. Two days after the post was made, two men approached him at his shop and demanded to see his phone. They told him about the post, to which Kanhaiya Lal replied that he did not know how to operate the phone, and his son used it to play games. They deleted the post and warned him not to repeat it.
But, Kanhaiya Lal’s neighbour, Nazim, leaked and circulated his details like name, photograph and location, and also filed a complaint against Kanhaiya Lal for the alleged post. Following Nizam’s complaint, Kanhaiya Lal had approached the police seeking protection as he was receiving death threats. He told the police that the alleged post was accidentally made by his 8-year-old son while playing video games on his mobile phone.
However, the police arrested him instead for the alleged post and did nothing to provide him protection after his release, which eventually resulted in his killing on 28th June 2022 by Muhammad Riyaz Attari and Ghaus Muhammad.
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