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The Telangana High Court has ‘dismissed as withdrawn’ a writ petition alleging that the act of the makers of the film ‘The Kashmir Files’ in putting certain objectionable scenes in the film is illegal, arbitrary. This film depicts the atrocities committed on Kashmiri Pandits and was released on March 11, 2022, across the country.

The petitioner namely Mohammed Sami Ullah Qureshi had claimed that the scenes showing mass murders of Kashmiri Pandits by Muslims and exodus of some Kashmiri Pandits during the Kashmir Insurgency are causing hurt to the religious sentiments of several Muslims around the world.

Qureshi had prayed the Court to issue a writ of mandamus declaring the action of the respondents in making, releasing and telecasting these ‘objectionable scenes’ in the film as illegal and arbitrary.

However, the bench of Justice P.Madhavi Devi, after hearing the matter at length, noted that Qureshi’s counsel sought permission from the Court to withdraw the writ petition to pursue alternative remedy.

Therefore, Court ordered, “Accordingly, permission is accorded and this writ petition is dismissed as withdrawn with liberty to pursue alternative remedy.”

Before the release of this film, a similar plea was filed before the Bombay High Court which, on March 8, also got dismissed. One Intezar Hussain Sayed had filed that Public Interest Litigation plea seeking stay on release of the film directed by Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri.

Sayed, in a similar manner to Qureshi, had alleged that it was clearly evident from only the trailer of the movie that the whole movie will also be portraying a "targeted one-sided view of the incident" which hurts the Muslim community & ignite "emotions and inflame members of the Hindu Community".

However, the Bombay High Court asked Sayed to approach the central government and seek remedy.

Notably, Roots in Kashmir (RIK), a prominent Kashmiri Pandit Organization, on March 24, filed a curative petition before the Supreme Court against the order passed by the top court in April 2017 dismissing its plea which had sought an investigation into the mass murder of Kashmiri Pandits in the Kashmir Valley during 1989-1990. 

Case Title: Mohammed Sami Ullah Qureshi v. The Government of Telangana