Delhi High Court allows release of ‘Batla House’ after minor tweaks

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]HE Delhi High Court on Tuesday allowed the release of a film Batla House, which was purportedly based on the 2008 Batla House incident. The court's go-ahead came with several conditions, to which the producers agreed. Batla House the movie will hit the big screen this Independence Day, August 15.

Passing a consent order, Justice Vibhu Bakhru said that the producers of the film would add a disclaimer that "This film is inspired by Delhi Police and events that are reported and otherwise available in the public domain…. it is not intended to accurately reflect those incidents that may have occurred."

The filmmakers agreed to DHC's proposed disclaimers, which further included "Any resemblance to person living or dead is unintended and purely coincidental."

The High Court also asked the producers to delete some scenes which could compromise the trial of the petitioners —  Ariz Khan, who is facing trial in the Batla House encounter case, and Shahzad Ahmed, who has appealed against the life sentence meted to him by a district court. The appeal is pending before a High Court.

"It has been agreed upon that the scene depicting the confession of one of the characters would be deleted," said the Court. It added, "scenes where certain characters are making explosive decides is also agreed to be deleted completely".

The petitioners had asked that the Batla Movie be postponed till after their trials were concluded. They claimed the film's release on August 15, this year showed a link between the bomb blasts that took place in Delhi on September 13, 2008, and the encounter. Making such a linkage could prejudice their trials, the petitioners added.

The court on August 2, this year, ordered a screening of the movie on August 5, 2019. It ordered T-Series, a respondent in the case, to arrange a private viewing. 

"While ordering the private screening, the court noted that "all contentions including the respondents contention that the challenge to the …film is not permissible without the same being released and the present petition is premature."

The 2008 Batla House encounter, which is also known as Operation Batla House, took place on 19 September 2008 in the Jamia Nagar. Two alleged terrorists were killed, three arrested and one ran away. Several Delhi Police officers including DP Inspector Mohan Chand were fatally injured. A week before the encounter, five serial blasts hit Delhi killing at least 30 people and injuring over 100.

The encounter led to arrest of a number of local people, leading to widespread allegations and protests by political parties, civil society groups, activists, especially teachers and students of the Jamia Millia Islamia University.

Subsequently, on the Delhi High Court's directive on 21 May 2009, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in its July 22, 2009, July report cleared the police of any violations of rights. Public speculations and debate however continue.