New Delhi: Dhurandar: The Revenge’s deep integration of real world intelligence protocols, actual locations and characters, modelled after high-ranking officials and martyred officers suggest that the film has depicted things far too explicitly in the name of entertainment, a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed before the Delhi High Court has said.
The high court Wednesday asked the Centre and the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to look into the allegations made in the PIL, which said that the Ranveer Singh-starrer sequel of Dhurandhar violated provisions of the Official Secrets Act, 1923.
The objective of the 1923 British-era legislation was to tackle espionage or spying activities against the British administration. The statute punishes actions such as helping an enemy state by imposing penalties for spying, and for harbouring spies. Such actions can even invite arrest, under the anti-espionage law.
A two-judge bench of Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyaya, along with Justice Tejas Karia, disposed of the petition with a direction to the film certification body CBFC and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) to look into the concerns raised in the plea.
“We are of the opinion that the concerns raised by the petitioner need to be considered and addressed appropriately,” the court said while directing the Centre to consider the representation made by the petitioner on 23 March, this year.
During the course of the proceedings, the bench also orally remarked that even if the film Dhurandar: The Revenge is a fictional work of art, its impact cannot be undermined.
Seeking to protect the sovereignty and integrity of the country, Deepak Kumar, a 33-year-old head constable in the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), one of India’s Central Armed Police Forces under the Ministry of Home Affairs, filed the plea.
Speaking to ThePrint, advocate Jagjeet Singh, who argued Deepak’s case, said the movie violated the Official Secrets Act. “The petitioner, being a serving military personnel, has a concern that the military intelligence techniques shown in the movie reveal classified trade craft and operational protocols like secret ink, fake passports, slow poisoning methods of maintaining double identity.”
Underlining the larger issue outlined in the plea, Singh said their case is also against the spy movie protocol, including films released in recent times such as Uri, Bellbottom and Raazi among others, as there is a need to protect India’s defence and military operations, and such movies should not be allowed on sensational issues. “The Delhi HC appreciated our arguments, and asked the ministry to consider our representation,” the plea stated.
Pointing out how Pakistani cricketer Shahid Afridi remarked that he had “lost all trust in strangers in Pakistan after watching Dhurandhar 2”, Singh added, “Our main concern is that for the people who have been working internationally, their cover may be blown, due to such spy films.”
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Objections against Dhurandar: The Revenge
The plea cites provisions like Article 51A of the Constitution, which stipulates every citizen’s duty to protect the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India, and even Article 19(2) which allows the state to impose restrictions on the freedom of speech, in the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of the country.
While Singh told ThePrint that the military techniques shown in the movie, and the methods of proving identities are all prohibited under the Official Secrets Act, he also pointed to the fact that the anti-espionage law also disallows the disclosure of any communication beneficial to the enemy.
Dhurandar: The Revenge has depicted things far too explicitly “in the name of entertainment”, the plea says while adding that although films are works of fiction, there are many events which have triggered debates around the safety and anonymity of real life covert operatives.
“Events such as Operation Lyari in Karachi and the IC-814 hijacking” explicitly link the film’s narrative to real-life geopolitical events, the plea adds. The film’s depiction of deep-cover training, infiltration techniques and the use of local assets in Pakistan could inadvertently shed light on the real-world tradecraft used by the Indian intelligence, it adds.
By dramatising successful infiltrations and specific methods of communication or sabotage, the film could lead to more scrutiny and witch-hunts by foreign counter-intelligence agencies against the “suspected real world assets” on the ground.
Section 3 of the 1923 Act criminalises espionage and spying, the plea says while adding that the film was also banned across all Gulf Cooperation Council countries, possibly due to its portrayal of intelligence operations and sensitive geopolitical themes involving Pakistan and Middle Eastern operations.
The plea also mentions how the constable first approached the Supreme Court in March, against the film’s release, but his plea was turned down due to some errors in its format. That same month, Deepak moved the Uttarakhand HC at Naintal, unsuccessfully, before the Delhi HC sought responses on his plea.
(Edited by Archishman Ganguly)
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