The Calcutta High Court has refused to hear the petition seeking a ban on the release of the film ‘The Bengal Files’. On Monday (September 8, 2025), the court dismissed the petition as hearing he was dismissed. The petition was filed by Shantanu Mukherjee, grandson of Gopal Chandra Mukherjee. He says that his grandfather is wrongly depicted in the film.
According to PTI reports, Shantanu Mukherjee said that his grandfather was a freedom fighter and had a goat meat shop in Bombar in the 1940s. Justice Amrita Sinha dismissed the petition as not considering.
The film is based on communal riots in Kolkata in August 1946. These riots are known as ‘Great Calcutta Killings’. The petitioner’s counsel told the court that Shantanu Mukherjee had filed an RTI application to the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), in which the role of the board was questioned in assessing his grandfather’s depiction in the film.
He argued that despite the expiry of the scheduled period, the information sought was not provided. CBFC counsel said that after receiving no response to the RTI application, the petitioner did not file any appeal against the release of the film within the stipulated time.
The lawyer of a defendant also said that the film has already been shown all over the country, so now the petition does not make any meaning. After hearing the arguments of all the parties, Justice Amrita Sinha said that the petitioner should avail the facility prescribed under the Right to Information Act. He refused to consider the writ petition.
While presenting a picture, Shantanu Mukherjee alleged that Gopal Chandra Mukherjee has been called an abusive manner (a Bangla word for a goat) in the film. He said that in the film, his grandfather was incorrectly depicted by showing him involved in the events of August 16, 1946.