The makers and everyone else attached to the film, Maharaj can heave a huge sigh of relief. After having gone through a last-minute issue of receiving a stay order on the film’s release, the judgment has now been passed.
Today, June 21 witnessed thee Gujarat High Court lifting the stay order imposed on Junaid Khan’s debut film, Maharaj. As known, the film was initially set for a June 14 release on Netflix but just a day before the release, the Gujarat High Court issued a stay order.
Thus began a trial on June 19 and was conducted daily. The petitioners believed that the film hurt the religious sentiments and could further cause law and order issues. Responding to them, the lawyers representing YRF and Netflix mentioned that the film that is based on the book, ‘Maharaj’ by Saurabh Shah has been available since 2013 and never led to any problems. They also assured that the film too doesn’t show any religion in a bad light.
The petitioners highlighted a major concern that Maharaj was based on an 1862 libel case where the judgment rendered by the Supreme Court of Bombay at the time was defamatory. They pointed out that while the film depicts the trial from that period, it does not explicitly show or read aloud the judgment.
On Wednesday, Justice Sangeeta K Vishen was asked to view the film, and she agreed to do so. In her judgment on June 21, Ms. Vishen stated that the court found nothing objectionable in the film. She emphasized that the film does not offend the religious sentiments of the petitioners or the Pushtimarg sect. Additionally, she noted that since the release of the book ‘Maharaj’, no incidents disrupting law and order have been reported. She also observed that the petitioners did not provide any evidence of such incidents.
Consequently, Justice Sangeeta K Vishen decided to lift the stay order, allowing Netflix to proceed with streaming the film.
For the uninitiated, Maharaj is based on the Maharaj Libel Case fought between a prominent religious figure and Karsandas Mulji, a journalist and social reformer, in the Supreme Court of Bombay. According to the press statement released by the makers, it was one of the most significant legal battles of all time. Besides Junaid Khan, Maharaj also stars Jaideep Ahlawat and Shalini Pandey with Sharvari in a cameo.