Centre told to make films accessible to PwDs, reply in two weeks

Key points

• Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma said the stakeholders should produce an endeavour to arrive at an workable solution.
• The judge was hearing a petition filed by advocate Rahul Bajaj, a practising lawyer and a visually impaired person.
• The high court had earlier sought a response from the Centre and the CBFC on the issue.
• A joint meeting of all stakeholders, including the petitioner and respondents, was directed to be convened within a week to…

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has asked the Centre, the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), and the film producers to consider including some features to make films exhibited at theatres and on OTT platforms accessible to persons with disabilities (PwDs).

Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma said the stakeholders should produce an endeavour to arrive at an workable solution. The judge said a decision should be taken within two weeks.

A joint meeting of all stakeholders, including the petitioner and respondents, was directed to be convened within a week to address the broader worries regarding film accessibility raised by the petitioner. A report was sought on the outcome of the meeting by the next date of hearing on September 11.

The judge was hearing a petition filed by advocate Rahul Bajaj, a practising lawyer and a visually impaired person. This person claimed that he was unable to access films, including “Pushpa 2: The Rule”, on an equal footing with other members of the public in the absence of appropriate accessibility features, particularly audio description and same-language captioning or subtitling or Indian sign language.