The court made it clear that subject to Article 19(2), a citizen has the right to publish, circulate and disseminate his views to mould public opinion on vital issues of national importance. Hence, any attempt to thwart or deny the same would offend Art. 19(1)(a). Under such circumstances, the burden would, therefore, heavily lie on the authorities that seek to impose them to show that the restrictions are reasonable and permissible in law.
Again an award-winning documentary film, In Memory of Friends about the violence and terrorism in Punjab was rejected by Doordarshan even after been granted ‘U’ certificate by the censor board reasoning that if such a documentary was telecast, it would create communal hatred and may even lead to a further violence. The court quashed the order emphasizing that the State cannot prevent open discussion and open expression, however, hateful to its policies. Everyone has a fundamental right to form his own opinion on any issue of general concern. He can form and inform by any legitimate means.[39]
C. The Da Vinci Code
A film which was in the centre of recent controversy is the Hollywood creation, The Da Vinci Code, based on the bestselling 2003 novel by author Dan Brown. It is a mystery/detective novel depicting Jesus Christ as being married to his apostle Mary Magdalene, which goes against the mainstream Christian view. The film also, though giving a historical fictional connotation, portrays the Catholic Church in poor light. Apart from a few hiccups and protests, the movie was released with a bang in most of the Western countries on 18th May, 2006.[40] Though the novel had been on sale (both original and pirated copies) in India since its publication, there was a huge outcry in many states of India by the Catholic community to ban the screening of the film in India for the perceived anti-Christian message. Following special screenings for various Catholic leaders and even for the then Information and Broadcasting Minister, Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi, the censor board finally gave the film an ‘A’ certification and cleared it. But the Board forced the distributor, Sony Pictures to insert a 15-second legal disclaimer card both