Complaint filed by CRPF sub-inspector in a Delhi court against film ‘Newton’ for ‘maligning’ image of CRPF

As per reports, a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) sub-inspector has filed a criminal complaint and a civil defamation suit in Karkardoooma court, Delhi against the makers of the movie ‘Newton’, for allegedly maligning the image, character and reputation of the force.

The complaint filed by Tamal Sanyal, a sub-inspector who has served 27 years in the CRPF, has claimed that the makers have shown the CRPF as a villain and an impediment for holding free and fair elections in India, which is the largest democracy in the world.

Raj Kumar Rao starrer Newton is based on the story of polling (Lok Sabha elections) in a distant and secluded village, surrounded by dense forest, badly infested by the Naxals, in Chhattisgarh.

The complaint highlighted a scene from the film which shows that the polling party assigned for conducting polls in a village arrives at a CRPF campus and makes a night halt there. “During their night halt, the Assistant Commandant of the CRPF, played by Pankaj Tripathy, discourages and dissuades the polling party from going to the assigned polling booth and suggests that the CRPF would carry the ballot boxes to the village and ‘collect’ votes from the villagers there and bring them safely to the polling party at the CRPF campus,” the complaint said.

The plea filed in Karkardoooma court against Manish Mundra, producer of the movie, Shiladitya Bora, CEO of Drishyam Films and Chairman of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) alleged that in the movie, the CRPF contingent has been shown making mockery of not only the field exercise but also gross and flagrant violation of the human rights, which is patently wrong and far away from reality and truth.

The defamation suit and the complaint have been filed before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Amit Arora seeking a public apology from the makers along with compensation to the complainant and the CRPF Welfare Funds.

The matter has been listed on March 1, 2018.

Image source: here