Rajya Sabha passes Cinematography (Amendment) Bill, 2023
Jul 27, 2023
New Delhi [India], July 27 : The Rajya Sabha on Thursday passed the Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill, 2023 with voice vote, to amend the Cinematograph Act, 1952.
The Bill was introduced in the Rajya Sabha on July 20 and now will be sent to the Lower House.
Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur termed piracy as a “termite”.
Terming piracy as a “termite”, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur told the Upper House that the Government will not have revisional powers over the CBFC’s decisions even after this Bill.
The Bill aims to address the issue of film piracy by transmission of unauthorised copies on the internet.
It also intends to improve the procedure for certification of films for public exhibition by the Central Board of Film Certification and also aims to improve the categorisation of the certification of the films.
As per the Bill, it substitutes the U/A category with the following three categories based on age: (i) UA 7+, (ii) UA 13+, or (iii) UA 16+ and empowers the Board to sanction the film with a separate certificate for its exhibition on television and other media.
The Bill further proposes to replace the current 10 years validity period for film certification with perpetual validity and it also takes away the revisional power of central government in the light of Supreme Court judgement in Union of India vs KM Shankarappa.
