The Accidental Prime Minister: Court files case against Anupam Kher

Patna : With the release of 'The Accidental Prime Minister's trailer, Anupam Kher is in limelight. Lately, the Muzaffarpur court in Bihar has directed the Kanti police station to lodge an FIR against 15 people associated with the movie The Accidental Prime Minister, including actors Anupam Kher and Akshaye Khanna. The movie is scheduled to be released on January 11. Meanwhile controversies are doing rounds creating difficulties for the film team.

The direction by the court of Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate (West) S Alam came after local lawyer Sudhir Kumar Ojha pleaded before the court that Kher and the others associated with the film “had defamed former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh” and had caused a “breach of peace” in society with release of the film’s trailer.

Ojha told media that “The film looks to be making an attempt to berate former PM Dr Manmohan Singh. Such a film will provoke only ill-will, enmity and portray us in a bad light internationally.”

He said though the film is based on a book by the former PM’s then media advisor Sanjay Baru, he chose to file case against only those associated with the film making and not the author.

On 8 Jan 2019, a Congress leader filed a PIL in the Punjab and Haryana High Court against the release of The Accidental Prime Minister. The case will come up for hearing on Wednesday.

The petition was filed by Punjab Sports Minister Rana Gurmeet Singh Sodhi’s son Anumit Singh Sodhi. In his petition, filed through advocate Kannan Malik, Anumit has sought the quashing of the certificate issued for the movie by Central Board of Film Certification and a stay on its release during the pendency of the case.

Anumit has also questioned the timing of the movie’s release, saying it is aimed at achieving political benefit in an election 2019.