The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Monday allowed streaming platform Zee5 to release its documentary Lawrence Of Punjab, subject to a change in title and removal of certain portions. The Court observed that the documentary, when viewed as a whole, does not glorify gangsters or criminal activities in any manner. Justice Jagmohan Bansal, in a judgment uploaded on the court’s website on May 11, said that after watching the documentary, he found its overall message to be against gangster culture.

The Court observed that “It cannot be concluded that release of the impugned documentary is going to create problem of public order or public safety. The fact that it is documentary and not a movie where artists are playing role cannot be ignored. Number of web series displaying violence/crime are available in public domain. More than a dozen Hindi movies which are purely based upon lifestyle of gangsters are available in the market. Thus, by no stretch of imagination, it can be concluded that impugned documentary would incite youngsters to involve in criminal activities.”

The Court further stated, “It does not find that release of documentary would create problem of public order. It is not going to instigate, inspire, promote or entice anyone.”

The HC held that the message of a filmmaker cannot be judged by isolated portions of a film and that a documentary must be viewed in its entirety from the perspective of an average and reasonable viewer. The Court said that the people interviewed in the documentary were not glorifying gangsters or crime in any way, “It is not prepared in the form of film whereas it is a mere documentary where material available in public domain has been compiled and few persons such as two retired policemen, 2-3 reporters and one advocate are expressing their opinion. None of them is glorifying crime or criminals.”

The makers did not respond to the verdict till the time of going to press.

---------------------------------------------------------

​- The High Court directed that the title of the documentary, as well as the trailer and poster, be changed before release

​- The expressions ‘Lawrence’, ‘Bishnoi’ or ‘Punjab’ shall not be used

​- The streaming platform has also been directed to remove content relating to two interviews of Lawrence Bishnoi

​- The Punjab DGP to identify and ensure removal of content that glorifies crime or criminals

---------------------------------------------------------

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had earlier issued an advisory against the release of Lawrence of Punjab after Punjab Police expressed apprehensions that the documentary, reportedly based on the rise of alleged gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, could be prejudicial to public order. Punjab Congress President Amarinder Singh Raja Warring had also approached the High Court challenging the proposed release of the documentary. The release was subsequently stalled after the Ministry advised Zee5 not to proceed with streaming it, following which the streaming platform moved the High Court seeking quashing of the advisory, contending that the documentary did not intend to glorify criminal activities.