INTRODUCTION
The Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (‘FCAT’) is the statutory body headquartered in New Delhi, was formed in or around 1981,after the CBFC gave director, screenwriter, and journalist K.A. Abbas’s documentary of 1968 titled Char Shahar Ek Kahani an ‘A’ certificate. The revising committee of the Central Board of Film Certification (‘CBFC’) upheld the certification but the film maker took his petition to the Supreme Court but he lost the case but the same led to positive outcome later in year 1981 when FCAT was instituted vide Section 5D of the Cinematography Act, 1952 (37 of 1952) by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, which was a quasi-judicial body comprising of 5 members and headed by a retired Judge of the High Court, to examine the decisions of the CBFC’s revising committees under the Cinematography Act, 1952, to hear appeals by filmmakers who were aggrieved because of the orders of the CBFCagainst their films.[i]
SCRAPPING OF THE FCAT
The Ministry of Law and Justice vide passing an Ordinance on around 4thApril 2021 put an end to the FCAT along with few other appellate bodies/tribunals and shifted their tasks to the judiciary.The Tribunals Reforms (Rationalization and Conditions of Service) Bill, 2021, (2 0f 2021)[ii]with an aim to reorganise tribunals, recommended to bring to an end to certain tribunals and authorities and to provide a mechanism for filing appeal directly to the concerned High Court but the Tribunals Reforms (Rationalization and Conditions of Service) Bill, 2021, did not get any approval from the Parliament subsequent to which an ordinance was issued i.e. the Tribunal Reforms (Rationalization and Conditions of Service) Ordinance 2021 (‘Ordinance’), which was promulgated by the President of India, wherein existing appellate authorities under 9 acts i.e. Cinematography Act, Copyright Act, Customs Act, Patents Act, Airports Authority of India Act, Trade Marks Act, Geographical Indications of Goods (registration and protection) Act, Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers Rights Act and Control of National Highways (land and traffic) Act, were abolished and their powers were vested in High Courts. The Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) has also been scrapped vide the Ordinance and High Courts shall also conduct proceedings pertaining to disputes regarding patent, trademark, copyright and geographical indications etc.
POSSIBLE EFFECTS OF THE SCRAPPING OF THE FCAT:
The scrapping/suspension of the FCAT will increase the burden on High Courts. The FCAT was formed to reduce the backlog of cases in the High Court and to enable quick disposal of matters pertaining to film certification etc., however the Ordinance wherein the FCAT shall be scrapped comes as a huge setback to the film makers. The FCAT has proved a fruitful body of appeals for the filmmakers in case of disapproval of their content by the CBFC. The suspension of FCAT has been considered like an arbitrary move and absolutely restrictive by many filmmakers and many film makers may feel that this would lead more censorship of the content produced by filmmakers and would actually make way for more logjams and hurdles in the process of the film certification and make the same more disorganized, costlier and lengthy process considering that the litigations in the High Courts are very expensive and time consuming and do take many years to settle at certain times.[iii]Also the Ordinance has been passed unilaterally without holding any discussions and/or consultations from the concerned personnel such as stake holders or so of the concerned field and may not be in the interest of filmmakers and especially may prove disastrous for the small film producers if their film is not approved by the CBFC and faces a dispute regarding its screening or universal certification etc. which would also cause delay in release of the movie.
DISPOSAL OF CASES BY THE FCAT IN THE PAST:
- Earlier, the CBFC banned film primarily based on women centric theme named “Lipstick Under My Burkha” as per them it being “lady oriented, their fantasy above life” which was later overturned by FCAT.[iv]
- FCAT cleared the release of film named ‘Babumoshai Bandookbaaz’, after a few voluntary cuts instead of 48 cuts that CBFC had ordered in the film after giving it an ‘A’ certificate.[v]
- In the film titled ‘Kalakandi’ the CBFC suggested 72 cuts to the film. The filmmakers appealed to the FCAT, following which the film got a U/A rating, with only one cut. [vi]
- CBFC had denied certification to a film titled ‘Maadathy, An Unfair Tale’ which is an indie film but when the matter was appealed at FCAT the film was cleared and approved to be screened in theatres without any cuts or edits.[vii]
- In November 2020, the CBFC ruled against the satellite exhibition of movie ‘Joker’ despite the film having had a successful theatrical run in India with an ‘A’ certificate. Turner International India appealed to the FCAT, but the body upheld the CBFC ruling and said that the film is unfit for satellite broadcast on the grounds that it glorifies violence and it would have a lasting effect on the impressionable minds of non-adults.[viii]
CONCLUSION:
The suspension of FCAT is likely to increase further delay, costs and indeterminacy for film makers and many well-known film makers namely Vishal Bharadwaj, Hansal Mehta, Atul Kasbekarand many others have expressed their disappointment towards the suspension of FCAT[ix] especially in the current times when the film industry has been going through huge losses owing to the preventive air for theatrical release of their films on account of Covid19 pandemic across the globe and subsequent lockdowns imposed in many places in the Country and recently even the regulations in respect of the content showcased on Over the Top (OTT) platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+ Hotstar, Sony Liv etc have been brought into effect, further to which the content releasing o OTT shall also be censored. To conclude, no film in India can release without a certificate from the CBFC, and this move of suspending FCAT has effectively removed the quick and less expensive route for redressing in respect of their films.
Written by- Vaidehi Harshad Samant
[i]https://www.livemint.com/Leisure/j8SzkGgRoXofpxn57F8nZP/100-years-of-film-censorship-in-India.html
[ii]https://copyright.gov.in/Documents/Pdf/Tribunals_Reforms__Rationalisation_And_Conditions_Of_Service__Ordinance__2021.pdf
[iii]https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/fcat-abolished-filmmakers-to-appeal-to-high-court-now-in-case-of grievances/articleshow/81950010.cms?from=mdr
[iv]https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/bollywood/lipstick-under-my-burkha-film-certification-tribunal-fcat-directs-cbfc-to-grant-a-certificate-to-the-film-4628173/
[v]https://www.wionews.com/india-news/fcat-clears-babumoshai-bandookbaaz-with-eight-minor-voluntary-cuts-19031
[vi]https://www.firstpost.com/entertainment/kaalakaandi-saif-ali-khans-dark-comedy-gets-ua-certification-with-one-cut-from-fcat-4248289.html
[vii]https://www.firstpost.com/entertainment/with-maadathy-an-unfairy-tale-leena-manimekalai-skewers-the-blindness-of-dominant-castes-to-oppression-7651481.html
[viii]https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/english/hollywood/fcat-refuses-to-clear-joker-for-television-telecast-with-a-u/a-certificate/articleshow/79019170.cms
[ix]https://www.indiatoday.in/movies/bollywood/story/fcat-abolished-hansal-mehta-to-vishal-bhardwaj-filmmakers-call-it-a-sad-day-for-cinema-1788145-2021-04-07
LAWBEES 