New Delhi/Hyderabad: The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has objected to a proposed screening of the documentary Prisoner No. 626710 is Present at the International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) Hyderabad on the grounds of the Cinematograph Act.
A group of students had planned to screen the documentary, directed by filmmaker Lalit Vachani, at the KRB Auditorium in the institute at 8 pm on Friday.
The event was designed to commemorate Political Prisoners’ Day and the death anniversary of revolutionary Jatindra Nath Das, a comrade of Bhagat Singh, who died after a prolonged hunger strike in Lahore jail in 1929, as reported by timesnow.in.
The CBFC posted a statement on X on Thursday, saying that screening a film not certified by it in public will be an offence under the Cinematograph Act, unless an exemption has been obtained.
“Public Screening of a Documentary film that has not yet been Certified by the CBFC is a violation of the Cinematograph Act unless a specific exemption has been sought under the Act. Authorities of @iiit_hyderabad may take note for necessary action,” the board said.
The screening was subsequently cancelled by the students. But the cancellation was not announced as an official institutional decision, as reported by PTI.
The proposed public exhibition of the documentary without a CBFC certificate or an applicable exemption is at the heart of the matter. In India, films meant for public exhibition are generally required to be certified by the CBFC under the country’s film-certification system. The board’s objection was thus based on the legal status of the documentary, and not on a publicly expressed judgment of its content.
The CBFC, under the Union’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, is responsible for the pre-censorship of films before they are publicly exhibited in India. The CBFC, in its public post, did not mention any scene, statement or allegation in Prisoner No. 626710 is Present which it found objectionable. Its caution was on the need for certification before public showings.
IIIT Hyderabad has reportedly said that neither the institute nor any of its recognised student bodies organised or hosted a screening of an uncertified film. The institute’s position also raises questions about whether the screening was an officially sanctioned campus program or a student-led initiative.
The documentary is about ex-Jawaharlal Nehru University research scholar and activist Umar Khalid. He was arrested in September 2020 for an alleged bigger conspiracy behind the northeast Delhi riots. He has been in custody since then on charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and other sections.
This comes days after a planned screening of the same documentary at the National Law School of India University (NLSIU) in Bengaluru was called off. Organised by the student-run Law and Society Committee, it was set for September 14 to mark Political Prisoners’ Day and six years of Khalid’s imprisonment.
The student committee later postponed the program, citing “logistical and security considerations”. The event has not been cancelled indefinitely and will be held later in the trimester, it said.
