PIL Filed In Delhi High Court Against CBFC Certification To 'The Taj Story'; Alleges Distortion Of Historical Facts, Communal Propaganda

A public interest litigation has been filed before the Delhi High Court against the certification given to “The Taj Story” film, slated to be released on October 31, citing fabrication of facts and propagation of a "communal propaganda.”

The plea has been filed today by lawyer Shakeel Abbas. He has alleged that the movie's potential is to create a communal disturbance amongst different communities in the country.

The respondents in the petition are Union of India through Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Central Board of Film Certification, film production company- Swarnim Global Services Pvt. Ltd., producer C A Suresh Jha, director Tushar Amrish Goel, writer Saurabh M. Pandey, Zee Music Company and actor Paresh Rawal.

The plea alleges that the production house, producer, director, writer and Rawal are “continuously launching controversial films one by one” and are trying to promote a particular political party through movies like The Kashmir Files and The Bengal Files.

“The movie's trailer has been launched on 16h October, 2025 and planning to release the entire movie on different screens nationwide without following any truths of the History. By the way of the said film i.e., 'The Taj Story' and permission has already been granted by the Central Board of Film Certification and currently the promotions of the said movie is on its highest peak,” the plea states. It adds that due to the alleged inaction on the part of the CBFC, the respondents have been successful in launching the trailer of the movie.

The plea states that the Union Government as well as the CBFC are well aware of the alleged harmful impact of the movie, adding that the producer, writer and actor of the film are trying to mislead the history by spreading misinformation about Taj Mahal.

“….however the respondent no.1 & 2 have not taken any action against the said film trailer launched by the respondent no.3 to 8 and such misinformation and manipulated contents are not being stopped by the respondent no.1 & 2 for the reason best known to them and has become mute spectator,” the plea states.

The PIL thus seeks a direction on CBFC to review the certification granted to the film and examine the possibility of requiring appropriate disclaimers or restrictive conditions such as adult certification and removal of certain scenes to protect communal harmony and historical integrity.

It further seeks a direction on the producer or distributor of the film to clearly display, in all promotions and in the credits, a prominent disclaimer stating that the movie deals with a contested narrative and does not claim to be a definitive historical account.

A direction is also sought on the authorities to take preventive steps to ensure that no communal incidents arise from the release of the Film, including in the tourism area of the Taj Mahal in Agra.

Title: Shakeel Abbas v. The Union of India & Ors