PIL filed against 'The Accidental Prime Minister' trailer | Photo Credit: Instagram

New Delhi: A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed in the Delhi High Court on Tuesday seeking a ban on the trailer of the movie "The Accidental Prime Minister" saying it has caused unaccountable damage to the name and fame of the office of Prime Minister. The film is based on a similarly titled the book by Sanjaya Baru, the former media advisor of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Actors Anupam Kher and Akshay Khanna play Manmohan Singh and Baru in the film, slated to release on Friday. The PIL, filed by Pooja Mahajan, a Delhi-based fashion designer through her counsel Arun Maitri, said the film will harm the image of the Constitutional post such as Prime Minister and will give it a bad name nationally and internationally.

On Monday, a single judge bench on Monday disposed off the plea saying it should be refiled at a public suit. The plea said the trailer violated Section 416 of the Indian Penal Code as an impersonation of a living character or living persons is not permissible in law.

Advocate Maitri said the film's producers have not taken any consent from Manmohan Singh, Congress President Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi to perform their characters or perform their political life or to dress up in the same way as they have been doing in their normal life or to copy their voice in any manner.

As per the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) guidelines on films based on real-life characters, a 'no objection certificate' (NOC) is required. But for the trailer, no such NOC was obtained, the petitioner said.

In the plea, Mahajan has requested the court to issue a direction to the Centre, Google, YouTube and CBFC to take steps to stop the exhibition and display of the trailer. Mahajan has also requested the court to quash the CBFC's certificate given to the film.

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