‘Padmaavat’ row: Karni Sena ‘will appeal in SC double-bench’

Jaipur, Jan 18 : Even as the Supreme Court on Thursday paved the way for a nationwide release of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s “Padmaavat”, the film’s chief opponents Shri Rajput Karni Sena said they will appeal against the order before a double-bench of the apex court and seek a total ban on the movie.

In a video message, Sena president Sukhdev Singh Gogamedi said: “We will also approach the President (to demand ban on screening of ‘Padmaavat’) … We shall never allow the movie to be screened.”

He observed that while a common man would keep running from pillar to post for months to get a hearing date, in this case, Bhansali’s plea was heard within a day of filing of the writ which “raises questions on the Supreme Court’s working”.

“Few days back, we saw four senior judges of the Supreme Court also raising questions about the top court’s working,” Gogamedi said, referring to the rift between the Chief Justice of India and four senior-most judges coming out in the open last week.

“How can you deliver the verdict by forcefully imposing the decision on state governments? This is more like killing democracy… What is the use of forming governments if they are not allowed to take decisions? Let the Supreme Court rule the country,” he said in the video.

Gogamedi declared that thousands of women would perform “jauhar” (self-immolation) in Chittorgarh on January 24.

“We have already sent a letter to the Prime Minister and will soon be meeting the President in this regard,” the Karni Sena President said.

Meanwhile, reacting to the apex court verdict, Rajasthan Home Minister Gulabchand Kataria said: “We have just come to know about this decision. We will study it, review it and then take a legal view on the same.”

“The state government has always placed its trust in the Supreme court and its verdict,” the Minister added.

IANS