Delhi HC refuses urgent hearing on Hindu Sena president's plea against 'Adipurush'

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday refused to urgently hear a public interest litigation by Hindu Sena's national president to "stay the streaming" of the film Adipurush, a retelling of the epic Ramayana.

A vacation bench of Justices Tara Vitasta Ganju and Amit Mahajan declined petitioner Vishnu Gupta's request to list the matter for hearing either "today or tomorrow or day after".

His lawyer said the PIL is listed for hearing on June 30 but the purpose of the petition would be defeated by then.

The court observed that the movie has already been released and the date of release was also known well in advance and no case was made out for an urgent hearing.

"What are you restraining when it is already released? As of now, I am not convinced there is an urgency. Please come back on that day (June 30)," the court said.

The counsel for the petitioner said there are many "controversial parts" that are even hampering international relations as Nepal had banned the film. He claimed that director Om Raut had earlier assured that the problematic parts would be removed but did not do so and released the film.

According to the petition, Adipurush has hurt sentiments of the Hindu community by depicting religious characters and figures in an inaccurate and inappropriate manner, which is contrary to the description in Ramayana authored by writers such as Valmiki and Tulsidas.

The petition prayed for directions to authorities to cancel the film's certification and immediately ban it.