Victory for Vijay's Mersal: Madras High Court dismisses plea to revoke censor certificate

Vijay's Mersal has cleared one more hurdle as the Madras High Court has dismissed a plea against the revoking of censor certificate issued by the Central Board of Film Certification for the Tamil film.

Justice Sundaresh and Justice Sundar dismissed the public interest litigation filed by an advocate Aswathaman, who argued that the factually incorrect information gives wrong impression about the newly-introduced Goods and Service Tax.

"The story of the film does not demand the above said scenes and dialogues which contained fake and fabricated particulars.... The CBFC is duty-bound to see that the young and impressionable minds are guarded against subtle machinations of pseudo artists and producers as the youngsters try to emulate what they have seen in the movies," The Hindu quotes him as saying.

The judges were reportedly of the view that any voice of opposition cannot be silenced in a mature democracy and it is the viewers' who will judge the content.

The Quint adds that the judges appreciated the petitioner's concern and suggested that he protest against social evils like untouchability if he is truly concerned about society. "Do you know how many people in India are malnourished? Opposition leaders have spoken against demonetisation. So, can we put a case on them for it?" the judges asked the petitioner before dismissing the plea.

Vijay's Mersal has some critical comments on GST, digital money and demonetisation. This has not gone well with the Tamil Nadu BJP, which demanded the removal of the scenes.

Mersal  faced a couple of issues before and after the release. Nonetheless, it has not impacted the movie at the box office, as it is now set to become one of the highest-grossing movies in Kollywood.