Bangladesh’s apex court clears bar on screening the film

The Supreme Court yesterday lifted a ban on the release and screening of the film Rana Plaza, which features the miraculous rescue of garment worker Reshma Khatun from under the rubble 17 days after the collapse of the building.

Reshma was pulled out of the rubble of Rana Plaza, which collapsed in Savar on April 23, 2013.

As many as 1,135 people, mostly workers, were killed in the incident, which is seen as one of the worst workplace disasters in history.

A four-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha stayed a High Court order that issued the ban.

The apex court passed the order in response to a petition filed by producer of the film Shamima Akhter.

In the petition, she said the Censor Board had approved screening of her film after cutting some scenes as per the HC directives.

There is no legal bar on the authorities from releasing and screening the movie following the SC order, AM Amin Uddin, a lawyer for Shamima, told The Daily Star yesterday.

Shaharia Kabir Biplob, another counsel for Shamima, told this correspondent that his client would apply to the Censor Board for releasing the film in cinemas after receiving the SC order.

The film had earlier been scheduled for release on September 4, he added.

Following a writ petition filed by President of Bangladesh National Garments Workers Employees League Sirajul Islam Rony, the HC on August 24 imposed a six-month restriction on the screening of Rana Plaza.

In the petition, Rony said the producer of the film had not deleted scenes previously directed by the court.

In March, the HC asked the authorities to cut some scenes portraying horror, cruelty and violence associated with the disaster, he claimed in the petition.