SOURCE: HT
The Delhi high court (HC) on Wednesday refused to grant a stay on the telecast of the movie Gunjan Saxena—The Kargil Girl on Netflix, an over-the-top (OTT) streaming media service, after the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the Indian Air Force (IAF) had moved the court to stop it from being aired.
Justice Rajiv Sakdher told additional solicitor-general (ASG) Sanjay Jain that the MoD has moved the court very late and an interim injunction on the telecast of the movie cannot be granted, as it has already been released.
The court sought the response of Dharma Productions, who has produced the film, and Netflix on the plea and posted the matter for the next hearing on September 18.
The MoD’s plea stated that the makers of the film had represented to the IAF that the movie was based on the life of Gunjan Saxena, an IAF officer, and wanted the force’s assistance for an authentic portrayal of the facts.
The plea alleged that the makers kept the IAF in the dark about the intent of the movie, which was a negative portrayal of the air force based on misleading and manipulative facts.
It cited that the makers also avoided entering into a formal agreement, or a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), with the IAF.
The plea argued that the pact was a prerequisite under the 2013 guidelines and the “in-principle” approval accorded to the makers of the film was at all times subject to the execution of the said MoU.
The plea stated that the makers had assured that they would proceed with the release of the film after a formal approval is obtained from the IAF.
However, all of a sudden, one of the makers informed the IAF that they had completed the filming of the movie, except for the section on the passing out parade, it said.
One of the makers had also sought the permission of the IAF to film the “December 2019 passing out parade at the air force academy”, the plea added.
