New Delhi: The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology on Tuesday asked the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting why it could not bring out a comprehensive Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill, which covers all aspects of filmmaking, including piracy, film certification and Contains age-related classifications of the film. Instead of following a piecemeal approach to address concerns, content at once.
The February 2019 amendments to the Cinematograph Act addressing issues of film piracy were examined in detail by a House panel and a report was submitted in March 2020.
In April 2021, the government further amended the Cinematograph Act to dissolve the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT), an appellate authority filmmakers approached to challenge decisions taken by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).
The latest changes proposed through the Draft Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill, 2021, likely to be introduced in the monsoon session Parliament, proposes to restore the revisional powers of the government to quash the decisions taken by the Central Board of Film Certification, even though it was removed Supreme court first.
Members of the committee, headed by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, are understood to have told the Information and Broadcasting ministry that filmmakers across the country are against the draft bill, calling it an attack on the creative freedom of the film fraternity. Sources said the panel members also sought to know from the government why the need was felt to restore the powers of the government to overturn the decisions of the censor board.
However, the ministry has informed the panel that the proposed changes have been misunderstood and the board will have the final decision on certification and the changes should not be read as centrally censored material.
Sources said the discussion on the draft Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill 2021 could not be completed on Tuesday due to absence of Information and Broadcasting Secretary Amit Khare. Consequently, the committee is expected to meet again next week to discuss why such significant changes have been proposed in the draft bill without taking the committee into confidence.
Apart from the objections raised by filmmakers across the country, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Tuesday wrote separate letters to Union IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and I&B minister Prakash Javadekar, calling the withdrawal of the draft bill and the proposed amendment “against the spirit of promoting right thinking in civil society”. Gone.
Stalin raised the issue after Tamil Nadu’s film industry urged the Center to take up the matter.
“I would like to reiterate that the draft amendment restoring ‘revision power’ to the Center after it is certified by the CBFC is an abuse of the ‘reasonable restriction’ clause under Article 19(2) of the Constitution. India….more This draft amendment itself is against the spirit of promoting right thinking in civil society,” Stalin said in his letter.
The February 2019 amendments to the Cinematograph Act addressing issues of film piracy were examined in detail by a House panel and a report was submitted in March 2020.
In April 2021, the government further amended the Cinematograph Act to dissolve the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT), an appellate authority filmmakers approached to challenge decisions taken by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).
The latest changes proposed through the Draft Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill, 2021, likely to be introduced in the monsoon session Parliament, proposes to restore the revisional powers of the government to quash the decisions taken by the Central Board of Film Certification, even though it was removed Supreme court first.
Members of the committee, headed by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, are understood to have told the Information and Broadcasting ministry that filmmakers across the country are against the draft bill, calling it an attack on the creative freedom of the film fraternity. Sources said the panel members also sought to know from the government why the need was felt to restore the powers of the government to overturn the decisions of the censor board.
However, the ministry has informed the panel that the proposed changes have been misunderstood and the board will have the final decision on certification and the changes should not be read as centrally censored material.
Sources said the discussion on the draft Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill 2021 could not be completed on Tuesday due to absence of Information and Broadcasting Secretary Amit Khare. Consequently, the committee is expected to meet again next week to discuss why such significant changes have been proposed in the draft bill without taking the committee into confidence.
Apart from the objections raised by filmmakers across the country, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Tuesday wrote separate letters to Union IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and I&B minister Prakash Javadekar, calling the withdrawal of the draft bill and the proposed amendment “against the spirit of promoting right thinking in civil society”. Gone.
Stalin raised the issue after Tamil Nadu’s film industry urged the Center to take up the matter.
“I would like to reiterate that the draft amendment restoring ‘revision power’ to the Center after it is certified by the CBFC is an abuse of the ‘reasonable restriction’ clause under Article 19(2) of the Constitution. India….more This draft amendment itself is against the spirit of promoting right thinking in civil society,” Stalin said in his letter.
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