The Bombay High Court ordered the civic body to restore Dia Mirza's promotional video after it was pulled following intense political objections. Leaders from the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Mumbai Mayor had labeled the actor anti-Hindu and demanded her removal from the environmental initiative. Meanwhile, the civic body had retained identical awareness videos featuring other celebrities like Madhuri Dixit, Nishigandha Wad, and Ajinkya Rahane. Mirza maintained that she created the pollution-awareness clip purely in the public interest without charging any fee.
Key points
The High Court asserted that authorities cannot have their selection of public campaign a…: The High Court asserted that authorities cannot have their selection of public campaign ambassadors dictated by outside political pressure.
Judicial officers highlighted that clean air and pollution control apply universally to a…: Judicial officers highlighted that clean air and pollution control apply universally to all citizens regardless of their caste or religion.
Dia Mirza confirmed that her campaign video was produced entirely free of charge to serve…: Dia Mirza confirmed that her campaign video was produced entirely free of charge to serve the public interest.
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MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Tuesday expressed its "deep pain and displeasure" with the recent row over actor
Dia Mirza's video for the BMC's eco-friendly and firecracker-free Diwali campaign and asked the civic body to re-upload her clip which had earlier been taken down.
A bench of Justice Girish Kulkarni and Justice Neela Gokhale, taking suo motu note of the issue, said it was anguished by the "petty mindset" of certain persons, especially those who are representatives of the common man.
It was "most unfortunate" that such a colour was given to a video made to spread awareness about the environment and air and noise pollution, the HC bench said.
No person can question as to why a certain celebrity was chosen by the authorities to spread awareness, it stated.
The controversy erupted after Mumbai BJP chief Ameet Satam objected to Dia Mirza's inclusion in the BMC's eco-friendly Diwali campaign, questioning why the actor was chosen to advise people on celebrating the festival.
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