No SC order on vigilantes, it says state to act against violent acts

Time of India

19-06-2025

NEW DELHI: Supreme Court on Thursday refused to lay down guidelines or impose costs on a vigilante group threatening the release of Kamal Haasan-starrer 'Thug Life' in Karnataka and closed the proceedings, saying the state should act against anybody preventing the screening or resorting to violence.
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'Thug Life' has not been released in Karnataka yet because of the threat of violence by those protesting against Haasan's remark about Tamil being the mother of Kannada.
When the PIL petitioner said it was a state minister who had made a statement to whip up passions, the bench said, "It is unfortunate but after some lashing, the state has filed an affidavit. We hope better sense prevails and vigilante groups will never do it in future.
Once the state has corrected itself and understood its duties and taken a conscious and wise decision to maintain law and order, there is no need to keep the matter pending.
"
When the petitioner continued to press for laying down guidelines to curb vigilante groups' threat of violence to stop release of censor board cleared films on diverse pretexts, state govt counsel D L Chidanand deftly drew the court's attention to the presence of the film's producer, Rajkamal Film International, and requested the bench to seek its view.
For the producer, senior advocate Satish Parashar said though non-release of the film in Karnataka had cost the producer nearly Rs 30 crore, it was now satisfied with the state govt's stand and did not intend to pursue the petition, which was transferred to Supreme Court from Karnataka high court on Tuesday.
Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC), through Udayan Jain, too said that though it was in negotiation with the producer to resolve the impasse arising from Haasan's statement on Kannada language, in view of the state's stand, it would not oppose release of the film in the state.
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It also questioned KFCC for seeking an apology from Haasan.
For one of the intervenors, senior advocate Sanjay Nuli said language was a very emotive subject for the people of Karnataka and the actor should have exercised restraint rather than indulging in such publicity gimmicks on the eve of release of the film. The bench said, "If the actor devised the publicity strategy, you fell for it. You file a defamation suit against the actor, but cannot take the law into your hands."