Delhi HC stay on National Film Awards

The controversy over the selection of awards for 53rd National Film Awards reached the Delhi High Court on Wednesday which granted a conditional stay on the announcement of honours in certain categories.

Acting on a petition filed by a disgruntled jury member who claimed her objections against the choice of awards were not even considered, Justice Kailash Gambhir issued notice to the I&B ministry, restricting it from announcing the awards until it considered and "passed a reasoned order" on the representations submitted by the petitioner Shyamli Banerjee Deb.

Deb had, on August 13, 2006 and September 4, 2006 raised objections pertaining to the selection of certain films. The awards are scheduled to be announced on May 12.

Deb, a member of the jury for the awards, had challenged the process adopted by the jury board for selecting films and sought a direction for formulation of transparent procedures through a written petition.