NOC refusal to a Movie by the Defence Ministry

NOC refusal to a Movie by the Defence Ministry

Type: Polity

Context: The Defence Ministry refused to grant a ‘No Objection Certificate’ to a movie based on a homosexual army officer as it portrays romantic relations between him and a local Kashmiri boy.

Concept:

• According to the Defence Ministry, NOC is refused to the filmmakers/producers for movies based on defence-related themes that bring disrepute to the armed forces/government/country.
• Further, the approval process “is not arbitrary/discriminatory in nature nor does it violate Article 14 of the Constitution of India.
• The process is not violative of freedom of speech and expressions, guaranteed under Article 19(1) (a)as each case is considered based on its own merits keeping in view the factors like national security, the defence of India, situation of law and order in the country/various states, maintenance of discipline in the armed forces, ethos/customs of military service and general sentiments of the citizens and image of the armed forces in the minds of the citizens of India/general public.”

Background:

• In 2020, Ministry of Defence has now formally written to the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), MeITY and Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to advise production houses to obtain NOC from the Ministry of Defence before the telecast of any film/ documentary/ web series on Army theme in public domain.
• The need was felt after complaints of distorted depiction of Indian Army Personnel, Military Uniform and incidents that hurt the sentiments of Defence personnel and veterans were received.
• The Indian Army has granted NOCs for 16 out of 18 films/web series/documentaries in the last one year (01 is rejected and 01 is still pending).
• 01 proposal for the NOC has been received by Indian Navy during the last ten years which is IAF has received 13 proposals in the last three years and none have been rejected.