Full Text
HIGH COURT OF DELHI
Date of Decision: -31st January, 2024.
67351/2023 AKSHAT BALDWA & ORS. ..... Petitioners
Through: Mr Rahul Bajaj, Ms Mahoor Ghani, Mr Pritthish Roy, Advs. (M:
8825050490)
Through: Ms. Srishti Gupta, Adv. for R-1 (M.
9310322455)
Mr. Ravi Prakash CGSC, Ms. Astu Khandelwal, Adv. for R-2. (M:
9810885923)
Mr Devvrat Joshi & Mr Angad S Makkar, Advs. for R-4.
Mr. Nitin Sharma, Mr. Kuber Mahajan, Advs. for R-5.
Mr. Pranav Sarthi, Adv. for R-6 (M.
8826457307)
JUDGMENT
1. This hearing has been done through hybrid mode.
2. The present petition has been filed by four Petitioners, out of whom, Petitioner Nos.1, 2 and 4 are visually impaired and Petitioner No.3 is hearing impaired. The Petitioners had filed the present writ petition seeking reliefs in respect of the feature film ‘Pathaan’ and praying for directions to incorporate sub-titling (same language), sub-titling (otherwise), captioning and audio-description for the movie ‘Pathaan’. In addition, one of the prayers is for notification of the standards of accessibility to be implemented in films in order to make film viewing enjoyable for visually and hearing impaired persons. The Petitioners through the present writ seek enforcement of various rights and accessibility requirements, as prescribed under the provisions of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 (hereinafter, “RPWD Act”).
3. The case of the Petitioners is that, though various rights have been recognized for ‘persons with disabilities’ under the RPWD Act, most films which are released in India are not catering to disabled persons despite the statute having been enacted more than 5-6 years ago.
4. In the present writ, through the previous hearings, this Court has considered the rights of persons with disabilities under the RPWD Act and has passed various directions to all the Defendants.
5. Initially the writ petition was filed in view of the movie ‘Pathaan’, however over the last hearings, this Court has considered various aspects of RPWD Act as also the relevant aspects of accessibility of information and broadcasting to persons with disabilities. This Court in view of the facts and circumstances of the case also directed Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (hereinafter, ‘I&B’) to provide requisite guidelines for broadcasting for people with disabilities.
6. The Court has also considered the decisions of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Rajive Raturi v. Union of India, [(2018) 2 SCC 413] and Vikash Kumar v. UPSC and Ors. [2021 SCC Online SC 84]. Accordingly, vide order dated 6th April, 2023, the Court passed the following directions:-
7. After the said direction, there were various concerns raised by different stakeholders particularly by Film Federation of India (FFI) and the South Indian Film Chambers of Commerce (SIFCC) who raised certain practical concerns which were addressed by the Court and this Court vide order dated 26th September, 2023 held as under:
8. In compliance to the said order, on 2nd November, 2023 Mr. Prithul Kumar, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (Ministry of I&B) was present in Court. Mr. Ravi Prakash, ld. CGSC on the said date placed on record the minutes of meeting dated 19th October, 2023, which was held under the chairmanship of Mrs. Neerja Sehkhar, Additional Secretary, I&B. In the said minutes of the meeting various concerns were raised with regard to the costs of technology, availability of technology, whether there can be an increase in piracy if API providers are provided access and whether viewers’ experience would be disrupted by providing sign language window. The same was addressed by the Ld. Counsel for the Plaintiffs and the Court on the said date held as under:
9. Further, on the said date Mr. Prithul Kumar submitted that the draft ‘Accessibility Standards for Television Programmes for Hearing Impaired’ guidelines are under preparation and they will be released in the public domain within the next 2 to 4 weeks for the purpose of stakeholders’ comments. He also stated that the guidelines after finalization would require approval of the Ministry of Law and Justice and the whole process could take between 3 to 4 months or even 6 months.
10. On 22nd December, 2023, the Court was informed that despite the interim directions, the accessibility features were not being followed on OTT platforms. This Court in view of the interim directions of 16th January, 2023 directed the Ministry to call upon the producers of the films ‘Jawan’ and ‘Hi Papa’ for consultation and impress upon them the importance of providing the accessibility features at least in the OTT release for the said two films, at least. Further, vide order dated 22nd December, 2023 this Court directed the Ministry of I&B as under:
11. Further to the last order, a status report has been handed over by Mr. Ravi Prakash, ld. CGSC for the I&B. The same is filed by way of an affidavit of Mr. Surajit Indu, Under Secretary, Ministry of I&B. It is stated in the said status report that the ‘Draft Guidelines of Accessibility Standards in the Public Exhibition of Feature Films in Cinema Theatres for Persons with Hearing and Visual Impairment’ have been put up for stakeholders’ consultation on 8th January, 2024. The same is available on the following links. https://mib.gov.in/film/films-codes-guidelines-and-policies https://mib.gov.in/sites/default/files/CORRIGENDUM%20%20Com ments%20on%20Accessibility%20Guidelines%20for%20Films.pdf
12. As per the said guidelines, time has been given till 31st January, 2024 to all the stakeholders to submit their comments. The status report states that after comments are received, the guidelines would then be finalized in terms of the order dated 2nd November, 2023. Mechanism for accessibility features in forthcoming films
13. Insofar as the film ‘Jawan’ and ‘Hi Papa’ are concerned, the stand of the Ministry of I&B in the status report is that a meeting was held with Red Chillies Entertainments, Vyra Entertainments and the producers of the concerned films along with OTT platform Netflix. The minutes of the meeting dated 15th January, 2024 are annexed to the said status report. After discussions, it was stated that the producers of both films ‘Jawan’ and ‘Hi Papa’ are willing to provide a copy of the films of the OTT platforms with accessibility features.
14. It is submitted on behalf of the Petitioners that since there are repeated films in respect of which inclusion of accessibility features would be required to be sought, instead of moving an application before the Court each time in respect of a new movie/film/series etc., the Ministry of I&B can designate a special officer to deal with representations in this regard.
15. In the opinion of this Court since there are several feature films and other content such as TV series, Documentaries etc., which are released continuously, let the Ministry of I&B designate a special officer on a permanent basis or put in place a mechanism for the purpose of dealing with the incorporation of accessibility features in such content. This would ensure that representations on behalf of persons with disabilities can be entertained, addressed and processed in a time bound manner. The said officer be designated or a proper mechanism be put in place, within the next two weeks and published on the website of the Ministry of I&B.
16. After receiving comments let a status report be placed on record setting out the developments in respect of the guidelines. Let a proposal be placed before this Court in this regard.
17. Mr. Kunaal Prasaad, who has appeared through VC, submits that cinemas and theatres are given three years time to implement the guidelines and such a long period would not be necessary and the same would be contrary to the spirit of the Rights of People with Disability Act, 2016. This submission shall be considered on the next date of hearing.
18. List on 15th March, 2024.
PRATHIBA M. SINGH JUDGE JANUARY 31, 2024 dk/bh