1. Bobby Art International vs. Om Pal Singh Hoon
(Nudity, adaptation of a persons life, defamation)
The ‘Bandit Queen’ Case
Exhibition of the Film – Bandit Queen
Appeal to the Delhi High Court
Synopsis Excisions and Modifications of the scenes
Counter Argument
The Decision
2. A writ petition was filled by the respondent to
quash the certificate of exhibition awarded to the
film ‘Bandit Queen’
The Film was based on a book which had been in
the market since 1991 without objection
The first respondent was the president of the
Gujjar Gaurav Sansthan and was involved in the
Case welfare of the Gujjar community
The Certificate was quashed by a single judge in
the Delhi High Court and on appeal to a Division
Bench, the verdict was upheld
The issue was whether the portrayal of frontal
nudity, rape and violence in the movie were
obscene, indecent & denigrating to women
3. In the high court, the first respondent contended
that he had seen the film and that his fundamental
rights had been violated
He alleged that the depictions in the movie were
“abhorrent and unconscionable, also a slur on the
womanhood of India”
Arguments He also claimed that a rape scene in the film was
suggestive of the moral depravity of the Gujjar
community because the rapist was a Gujjar
It lowered the reputation of the Gujjar Community
Discrimination of Articles 14,19 & 21 of the
Constitution has been violated
4. The Court reversed the decision of the Delhi High
Court, it held that since the Tribunal had viewed
the film in “true perspective” and granted the film
an ‘A’ Certificate, and since the tribunal was an
expert body capable of judging public reactions to
the film, its decision should be followed
The Court dismissed the first respondent’s writ
Order petition
The Court observed that a film that illustrates the
consequences of a social evil necessarily must
show the social evil
The Tribunal were in the aid of the movie’s theme –
Revulsions against the perpetrators and pity for
the victim
