Plea in HC to postpone release of 'Batla House'

Two accused in the Batla House encounter case have moved the Delhi High Court seeking a stay on the release of the film based on the incident in Delhi in 2008.

The plea, filed by Ariz Khan and Shehzad Ahmad, both accused in the Batla House encounter case, is likely to come up for hearing next week.

The petition sought a direction to the Centre to conduct a pre-screening of the film 'Batla House'.

The plea further stated that the poster and promotional videos of the movie claim that the sequence of events in the movie are inspired by true events, which creates the impression the film depicts a true account of events in the Batla House encounter.

"Although the courts discharge their duties in a free and fair manner and are not likely to be affected by events portrayed in a movie...the release of such a movie would prejudice the outcome of the trial," the plea said.

"The events portrayed in the film will prejudice the trial especially as there has been an effort to connect the two incidents i.e. Batla House and the Delhi serial blasts," the plea added.

Directed by Nikkhil Advani, 'Batla House' is inspired by the alleged police encounter that took place in Delhi in the wake of the serial blasts of 2008.

'Batla House' is scheduled to release on August 15.
IANS