Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind Seeks Delhi HC Ban on ‘Udaipur Files’ Over Kanhaiya Lal Murder Depiction

Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind asked the Delhi High Court to ban a movie on the murder of Kanhaiya Lal called the Udaipur Files. They claim that the trailer of this film causes communal disharmony, biases a community and is against the certification parameters of movie industry which may affect the order of the general populace before the movie is released on July 11, 2025.

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History of Kanhaiya Lal Murder Case:

On June 28, 2022, the brutal murder of Kanhaiya Lal, a tailor in the city of Udaipur, took place. The killers are Mohammad Riyaz Attari and Ghaus Mohammad. The attackers even filmed the assault and shared the video with the Internet. His motive on murder was said to be a Twitter post made by Kanhaiya Lal, which supported Nupur Sharma, former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson whose remarks against Prophet Mohammed brought a lot of controversy. The matter was later handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and arrests were taken place regarding the murder and the conspiracy regarding it. The event triggered serious social anger and community turmoil in numerous sections of India. In Rajasthan, the local authorities in Udaipur imposed curfew and internet was shut down.

Petition and Arguments on behalf of Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind:

The Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind, its President Maulana Arshad Madani has approached the Delhi High Court, with similar petitions in High Courts of Maharashtra and Gujarat. Their main argument is based on the fact that the film may cross the boundary of violation of constitutional rules and the laws that exist concerning the certification of films.

The petition in question questions the legality of the certificate assigned to the movie, the Udaipur Files, by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). It argues that the certification contravenes Section 5B of the Cinematograph Act, 1952, as well as the Guidelines to Certification of Films to be Exhibited to the Public which was issued by the ministry on the same section in 1991. These conditions stand against the certification of movies that are against the societal order, decency or morality and might lead to the commission of any crime.

The petitioner says that the trailer of the Udaipur Files released on June 26, 2025, contains some dialogues and events that earlier incited communal violence. The plea carries the claim that the controversial sentence uttered by Nupur Sharma was explicitly referred to by the trailer, and this had created agitation across the country. Jamiat asserts that the film can consequently resurrect similar communal sentiments since they are likely to be replicated through repetition.

Moreover, the petition also says that the movie, even though passes off as a movie on the killing of Kanhaiya Lal, has unashamedly shown the court scenes and the mention of a sitting Chief Minister who is on the side of one party in the matter. It is also argued that the trailer aims at stereotyping a whole community hence infringing on the right to decent living by the members of the entity. A plea to the film states that the film is nothing but highly provocative and can cause a wedge between the communities, which shall subsequently cause highly unsettling occurrences to the peace and order of the public.

Another alarm raised by the Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind is that the narrative of the film is misleading in nature and serves to demonise an entire sect of people on religious lines. The petition has alleged that the film promotes hatred and does a lot of harm to the very fabric of the religious harmony in the land and has also directly violated the constitutional dream of a plural, inclusive and secular nation. The organization points to the fact that artistic expression, even though it may be as evocative as it needs to be, cannot be allowed to turn into a means of trampling fraternity and upsetting the ethical values and roots of the nation as stipulated in the Constitution.

The plea also opposes film scenes that allegedly show the figures of Muslim religions to be involved in homosexual activities with underaged boys and term those as quite objectionable and detrimental. The petition does not merely want directions to ban the release, screening, distribution or public screening of the movie but also wants the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) to get the trailer of the movie removed immediately on all the digital and social media platforms.

The film director and producer together with the distributor Reliance Entertainment Pvt Ltd and Google, X (formerly Twitter), Meta, have been listed as opposite parties to the petition filed by the legal challenge by Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind. It is supposed to be heard by Delhi High Court on July 9, 2025, only two days before the release of the book ‘Udaipur Files’.