SC refuses to stay release of ‘Nanak Shah Fakir’

New Delhi, April 16 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Monday refused to stay the release of the film "Nanak Shah Fakir" based on the life of Guru Nanak Dev saying the constitution protects the filmmakers to make a movie as long as it does not impinge on secularism.

Refusing to interfere with its last week’s order directing the states to ensure that no obstruction was caused in the release and screening of the film, a bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud said: "As long as the film does not denigrate Sikhism and it only seeks to glorify Guru Nanak Dev we will not interfere…"

The order came on a plea by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) which contended that there could not be any portrayal of Sikh Gurus, their immediate family members and the Panj Payaras by any mortal beings.

Appearing for the Sikh body, senior counsel P.S. Patwalia referred to a 2003 resolution of the SGPC and reiterated that their cannot be any depiction of Sikh Gurus by any living being.