The Bombay High Court on Thursday questioned whether the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) was acting under the influence of the ruling party and if the ruling party (BJP) was taking action against its own Member of Parliament, Kangana Ranaut.

A division bench, consisting of Justice B.P. Colabawalla and Justice Firdosh Pooniwalla, was hearing a petition by Zee Studios. The studio claimed that the CBFC had arbitrarily withheld the censor certificate after initially issuing it.

During the proceedings, the bench inquired about the political motivation behind delaying the certification. Senior Advocate Venkatesh Dhond, representing Zee Studios, argued that the ruling party aimed to postpone the film’s release until after the Haryana elections due to objections from the Sikh community regarding the trailer.

“Let me assume that this movie is perceived by members of the Sikh community as Anti Sikh. They don’t want it to be telecasted. Who is responsible? The board is executive. If I am a voter then I will think that the party in power allowed the release,” said Dhond.

The bench then questioned whether the ruling party was acting against its own MP, “Are you saying this is at the behest of the ruling party? Basically, the ruling party is against its own MP,” the court remarked.

Dr. Abhinav Chandrachud, representing the CBFC, informed the Bombay High Court that the board had also received representations from Punjab and Maharashtra regarding the movie. He further stated that the matter had been referred to the revising committee, which was in the process of making a decision.

The court directed the revising committee to reach a decision and communicate it to both Zee Studios and the court by September 25.

In earlier hearings, the bench had instructed the CBFC to review the representations and decide on issuing the censor certificate for the film *Emergency* by September 18.