Who issues film certification for OTT, social media platforms: HC asks Centre

The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court has asked the Centre which authority undertakes film certification for content display on OTT and social media platforms.

The court has asked the Centre and Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to file a counter affidavit apprising whether there is any other arrangement for OTT films or whether CBFC is authorised to issue certificates to them too. The court has fixed 13 August 2024, for the next case hearing.

The order was passed by a bench of justices Rajan Roy and Om Prakash Shukla on a PIL filed by Dipankar Kumar. In his petition, Kumar has alleged that objectionable comments have been made about the people of Bihar in Taqatvar Policewala, a Hindi adaptation of the Telugu film Dhee Ante Dhee.

The petitioner said the film, originally made in Telugu in 2015, is available on YouTube, and demanded cancellation of its censor board certificate.

Advocate-general Kuldeep Pati Tripathi, the amicus curiae (friend of the court) in the case, told the court after watching the film that it contains objectionable dialogue that could encourage discrimination based on region, bitterness among people of different states, and disturbance of public peace.

On this basis, the court sought a reply from the ministry of information and broadcasting and CBFC. The court has also made it clear that if the reply is not received by the next hearing, a gazetted officer of the CBFC will have to appear for the hearing through video conferencing.