New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday declined to entertain a request made by a lawyer seeking an urgent hearing on a plea for protection against several alleged threats over the screening of Kamal Haasan's film "Thug Life" in theatres across Karnataka.
The matter was mentioned before a bench which comprised Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice Manmohan.
The lawyer, who was representing the petitioner, informed the apex court about the open threats from fringe groups against the screening of the film in Karnataka. The lawyer contended before the bench that fringe elements have made open threats and added that these elements are saying “theatres will be set on fire."
However, the bench asked the theatre association from Karnataka to approach the Karnataka High Court instead and made it clear that the court is not keen to entertain the plea for an urgent hearing. The bench orally observed, “install fire extinguishers” and asked the petitioner to move before the high court.
Kamal Hassan starred film was in cinema halls across the country on June 5. The Tamil movie, which reunites Hassan with filmmaker Mani Ratnam after 1987's "Nayakan", could not be released in Karnataka after Haasan's comments about the Kannada language sparked a major controversy.
