Govt will lose power to revise a film’s certificate: Anurag Thakur as Rajya Sabha OKs Act | India News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: Rajya Sabha on Thursday passed the Cinematograph (Amendment) Act, a legislation that not only broadened the definition of what qualifies as content piracy, but also tightened penal provisions, including a jail term of up to 3 years and a fine of up to 5% of a film’s production cost.

The revised Act, which incorporates recommendations of a parliamentary standing committee, introduces three age-based certifications under the ‘UA’ category, namely ‘UA 7+’, ‘UA 13+’ and ‘UA 16+’. It also empowers the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to sanction a film with a separate certificate for its exhibition on television or other media.
Assuring the House that the government wants CBFC to remain “autonomous”, Thakur said the revisions in the law will take away from the government the power to revise a film’s certificate. He also clarified that the Act now provides that film certificates issued by the CBFC will now be applicable for perpetuity instead of their current validity 10 years.

The legislation also allows certification of films to be converted from Adult (A) or banned (S) to ‘UA’ after suitable alterations for being broadcast on TV.
The Act was taken up for passage amid protests by opposition parties over the Manipur issue. The opposition eventually staged a walkout after demanding the PM’s presence in the House to discuss the ethnic strife.