Ahead of the theatrical release of the ‘Udaipur Files : Kanhaiya Lal Tailor Murder’ on Friday (11th July), the Delhi High Court had put a stay on the release of the much anticipated movie.
The development comes days after the controversial Islamic outfit, Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, moved the Delhi High Court, seeking a ‘ban’ on the film.
On Thursday (10th July), a 2-Judge Bench of the Delhi High Court comprising Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya and Justice Anish Dayal directed Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind to approach the Central government to exercise its revisional powers against the certification for ‘Udaipur Files : Kanhaiya Lal Tailor Murder.’
Such revisional powers are granted to the Centre through Section 6 of the Cinematography Act. The Delhi High Court noted that Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind must first exhaust its statutory remedy for revision by Monday (10th July).
The court directed that till the Central government makes a decision on the revision application of the Islamic outfit, the stay on the release of ‘Udaipur Files: Kanhaiya Lal Tailor Murder’ would continue.
“Since we are relegating petitioner to invoke revisional remedy, we provide that till the application for grant of interim relief is decided by the govt, if moved by petitioner, there shall be stay on release of the film,” it directed.
“It is not that it is impermissible for this court to exercise extraordinary jurisdiction even in a case where petitioner approaching court has not exhausted alternative remedy. But having regard to the facts of the case and taking into consideration the scheme of the Act, we are of the opinion that petitioner ought to have approached central govt under Section 6,” the court further stated.
Producer of Udaipur Files to approach Supreme Court
In the meantime, the producer of the film Amit Jani has announced that he would approach the Supreme Court of India in this matter.
“We had screened this film for their lawyer Kapil Sibal, so even after the screening, he had to oppose it because he had taken fees for it. Today, the High Court has stayed the release of this film. We are going to the Supreme Court to challenge this decision. They have been asked to go to the Central Government and the government will give its decision within seven days whether the film is right or wrong,” he stated.
Petition by Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind
It must be mentioned that Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, which has a history of protecting terrorists, objected to the movie based on the brutal murder of tailor Kanhaiya Lal on 28th June 2022 by Islamic terrorists Muhammad Riyaz Attari and Muhammad Ghaus.
It has approached the High Courts of Delhi, Gujarat and Maharashtra to stop the release of ‘Udaipur Files Kanhaiya Lal Tailor Murder.’
“The movie, purported to be the story of the murder of one Kanhaiya Lal in 2022, in fact unabashedly depicts court scenes, the statement made by a sitting Chief Minister supporting one party in the case and also explicitly mentions the controversial statement made by a politician – Nupur Sharma – which had resulted in communal violence and, in turn, the gruesome murder of Kanhaiya Lal,” it claimed in its petition.
Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind Arshad Madani had also confirmed the development on X (formerly Twitter). He also dog-whistled against the makers of the film, claiming that it carried ‘blasphemous’ remarks about Prophet Muhammad.
He also made veiled threats about Muslims unleashing mayhem and creating a law and order crisis across the country if the film is released.
Madani claimed that the film maligned the Muslim community and promoted hatred. The Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind President also whined about references made in the film about the Gyanvapi Mosque, an illegal structure built on the Vishweshwar temple.
Arshad Madani welcomes stay on release of Udaipur Files
In a tweet on Monday (10th July), Arshad Madani welcomed the decision of the Delhi High Court to put a stay on the release of ‘Udaipur Files: Kanhaiya Lal Tailor Murder’
He claimed, “The stay on the film’s screening has strengthened the supremacy of the Constitution. It also sends a clear message that no one can violate constitutional and moral boundaries in the name of art and freedom of expression.”
Madani brazened out, “In recent years, we have seen some objectionable films being made but they were not as repulsive as this film. In this one, an entire community has been portrayed as ‘criminals’ under the garb of a murder incident. This is why we decided to approach the court. We are pleased that our efforts have succeeded.”
Udaipur Files “फिल्म की स्क्रीनिंग पर स्टे और अदालत के अन्य आदेशों ने संविधान की सर्वोच्चता को मज़बूत किया है। यह एक स्पष्ट संदेश भी देता है कि कला और अभिव्यक्ति की स्वतंत्रता के नाम पर कोई भी व्यक्ति संवैधानिक और नैतिक सीमाओं का उल्लंघन नहीं कर सकता।”
— Arshad Madani (@ArshadMadani007) July 10, 2025
हाल के वर्षों में कुछ और…
He concluded, “We are fully confident that the final judgment will also be in our favour. This decision (by the Delhi High Court) doesn’t just stop the release of the film but also puts a stop to the nefarious agenda of communal elements.”
Udaipur Files: What we know about it
The ‘Udaipur Files: Kanhaiya Lal Tailor Murder’ was set to hit the theatres on Friday (11th July). The movie features actor Vijay Raaz in the lead role.
Other actors including Rajneesh Duggal, Preeti Jhangiani, Kamlesh Sawant, Kanchi Singh, Mushtaq Khan are part of the film.
Bharat S Shrinate is the director and writer of the film, which is based on the murder of Udaipur tailor Kanhaiya Lal. The producer is Amit Jani, and the distributor is Reliance Entertainment.
Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind and its history of defending Islamic terrorists
Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind has a history of providing ‘legal services’ to Islamic terrorists. The legal cell, set up by Arshad Madani in 2007, takes up the cases and enlists lawyers to defend the terror accused in the courts.
According to a New Indian Express report, the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind has offered its services to around 700 accused. What is worrying about such interventions is that they have been able to get acquittals of at least 192 terror accused since 2007.
Most of the acquittals have not come because they were found innocent; instead, they were being released due to technicality or lack of evidence or because of the poor investigation by the police.
The 7/11 Mumbai train blasts, the 2006 Malegaon blasts and the Aurangabad Arms cases were some of the initial cases that were taken up by the JUH legal cell. Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind had also defended the accused in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks case, the 2011 Mumbai triple blasts case, Mulund blast case, Gateway of India blasts case.
On its website, the JUH has listed the terror-related cases it is fighting on behalf of the accused Muslims.
In 2013, Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind had provided free legal aid to Indian Mujahedeen terrorist Mirza Himayat Baig, who was accused in the German Bakery bomb blast case. The Indian Mujahideen terrorist was sentenced to death by a Pune court on April 18, 2013, along with co-accused Yasin Bhatkal.
Some of the other cases in which Jamiat has come forward to provide legal aid to terror-accused:
- Lashkar Connection Case (Abdul Rahman V/s State SLP)
- ISIS conspiracy case Kochi (State of Kerala v/s Arshi Qureshi & others)
- ISIS conspiracy case Mumbai (Arshi Qurashi & others v/s State of Maharashtra)
- ISIS conspiracy case (State of Rajasthan v/s Sirajuddin)
- 26/11 Mumbai attack case (Syed Zabiuddin v/s State of Maharashtra)
- Chinnaswamy Stadium Bomb Blast Case (State V/s Qatil Siddiqui and others)
- Jungli Maharaj Road Pune Bomb blast case (A.T.S. v/s Asad Khan & others)
- Indian Mujahideen Case (Maharashtra VS Afzal Usmani & others)
- Zaveri Bazar Serial Blast (State v/s Azaz Shaikh and others)
- SIMI conspiracy case (Madhya Pradesh) State V/S Irfan Muchale & others)
- Jama Masjid Blast Case (Delhi State V/s Qateel Siddqui Others)
- Indian Mujahideen conspiracy case (State vs. Yasin Bhatkal & others) Ahmedabad Serial Blast Case 2008 (State V/s Jahid & Others)
In addition to supporting the terror-accused, the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind had recently stoked a controversy by extending all possible legal and financial aid to the killers of Hindu leader Kamlesh Tiwari, who was brutally assassinated in his office in Lucknow.
The Jamiat had said that it is willing to bear all the legal costs and had also offered the head of their legal cell to defend the five accused in the Kamlesh Tiwari murder.
In June 2021, the Deoband-based organisation had also deputed its lawyers to defend alleged Al-Qaeda terrorists in Uttar Pradesh. The organisation had declared that it would provide legal assistance to the two terror suspects.
In February 2022, it came to the rescue of 49 terrorists, who were convicted for planning and executing 21 bomb blasts in Ahmedabad that killed nearly 56 innocent people.
Well, Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind has every right to defend convicts and accused that it perceives were implicated on false charges.
However, when it jumps to the rescue of those charged with terrorism, including convicts who have a watertight case against them, it is essentially sending a message to all radical elements that no matter what, they will continue to support them regardless of their culpability.
