Karnataka High Court dismisses actor Darshan’s plea against release of Kannada movie BOSS
The Karnataka High Court has dismissed a plea by actor Darshan to halt the release of the Kannada film 'BOSS', ruling that cinematic depictions cannot influence judicial proceedings in criminal cases. The court emphasized that legal trials are based on evidence and law rather than fictional portrayals, even if those portrayals share similarities with real-life events.
Why it matters
This ruling reinforces the principle of artistic freedom and clarifies the legal threshold for restricting films, asserting that courts will not act as 'super censor boards' based on speculative claims of prejudice.
Observing that cinematic portrayals, even if they bear similarities to real-life events, cannot influence or sway courts adjudicating criminal cases, the High Court of Karnataka dismissed actor Darshan’s plea to stop the release of Kannada film Boss.
Darshan had claimed that the film mirrored his alleged role in the Renukaswamy murder case and that its release could prejudice his right to a fair trial.
Rejecting his claim, the court said that “merely because a movie is released depicting few instances, which may be similar to the allegations in the ongoing trial, it cannot be said that the courts dealing with such criminal trial would be influenced or swayed by such depiction of art or similarities in the movie to decide the merits of the criminal trial.”
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