Cuttack: The Orissa High Court on Monday directed the State government to put on hold the 31st State Film Awards ceremony which was scheduled to be held on 14th & 15th December 2021.
The direction from the Bench of Justice Arindam Sinha came while hearing a plea filed by Odia film director, Bobby Islam.
The petitioner has alleged that two films which have been selected on several categories in the list for the award, are ineligible for entry under rule 3(b) in Orissa State Awards for Films Rules, 2010 as they are not original films.
As per the petition, two films ‘Khusi’ and ‘Golmal Love’ are not original films and still they are scheduled to receive the awards in the ceremony.
The petitioner further apprised the court that his film, ‘Chhabirani’, based on the true story of the 1980 Chhabirani gang rape, murder was not selected for the awards.
Appearing for the State, the Additional Government Advocate submitted that as per rule dubbed/revised/copied/remake versions of films are ineligible for entry to State Film Awards.
