Plea in SC against release of 'The Accidental Prime Minister'

A plea was filed in the Supreme Court Wednesday challenging the January 7 order of the Delhi High Court which had disposed of a petition seeking to ban the trailer of upcoming movie, 'The Accidental Prime Minister'.

The high court had disposed of the writ petition against the trailer but left it open for the petitioner to file a public interest litigation (PIL).

The filing of appeal in the apex court came hours after a division bench of the high court dismissed the PIL, which had sought a ban on both -- the film and its trailer -- alleging it defamed the constitutional post of the Prime Minister.

The film is scheduled to release on January 11.

The movie, which stars Anupam Kher as former prime minister Manmohan Singh, is based on a book of the same name by Singh's then media advisor Sanjaya Baru.

In the appeal filed in the top court, petitioner Pooja Mahajan has sought stay on exhibition of trailer of the film on YouTube and to suspend the release and exhibition of the movie during pendency of the matter.

The plea, filed through advocate A Maitri, has claimed that "at present if the film 'The Accidental Prime Minister' is allowed to be released then it will cause unaccountable damage to the name and fame of the office of Prime Minster of India."