A Division Bench of the Andhra Pradesh High Court comprising Chief Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice M. Satyanarayana Murthy on Wednesday admitted an Implead Petition (IP) filed in favour of the ban imposed on staging of play ‘Chintamani’ by G. Chandrasekhar, coordinator of Tirupati-based Sri Kasi Annapurna Vasavi Arya Vysya Vruddhasramam and Nityanna Satram. He was represented by senior advocate Vedula Venkata Ramana.
Two other Implead Petitions submitted by Devaki Venkateswarlu, president of the Andhra Pradesh wing of International Vysya Federation, and Vijayawada Urban District Arya-Vysya Sangham president Konakalla Vidyadhar Rao, both seeking the ban, were withdrawn as not pressed when the Chief Justice questioned whether such petitions were being filed to thwart the court proceedings.
Artistic freedom
The judges briefly heard Umesh Chandra P.V.G, advocate for the main petitioner, K. Raghu Ramakrishna Raju (Narsapuram MP) who contended that the government could not ban the entire play due to the objectionable portrayal of a character. In this regard, he cited a Supreme Court judgement which went against attempts to curb artistic freedom.
Asked what was the MP’s interest in the case, Mr. Umesh Chandra said it was about adverse impact of the ban on the large number of artistes dependent on the historic play for their livelihood.
The court also heard the arguments made by advocate J. Shravan Kumar on behalf of A. Trinadh, a Vijayawada-based artiste who objected to the ban. The court adjourned the hearing by two weeks after ordering the issuance of notices to the respondents.
