Supreme Court to hear appeal against ban on animated film Mahaprabhu Jagannath for not being true to ‘Skanda Purana’
The Supreme Court agreed to urgently hear on Friday (July 17, 2026) an appeal against an Orissa High Court ban on the release of an
The Supreme Court agreed to urgently hear on Friday (July 17, 2026) an appeal against an Orissa High Court ban on the release of an animated film ‘Mahaprabhu Jagannath’ for not strictly adhering to the religious text of Skanda Purana. Appearing before a Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on Thursday (July 16, 2026) in an oral mentioning, senior advocate Devadatt Kamat, representing the film’s makers, Ele Animations, said the movie was due for release on Friday (July 17, 2026) in 300-odd theatres across the country.
The country-wide ban would lead to massive commercial loss. He said the work was a children’s film and has been cleared for release by the Central Board of Film Certification. The release date had been fixed two months ago. The ban order was uploaded only at 9 p.m. on Wednesday (July 15, 2026), compelling the film makers to rush to the apex court for relief. “The ground taken by the High Court is that the work is not strictly in accordance with the Skanda Purana… The High Court has banned it across the country on the basis of a writ petition.
Even the writ petition had only sought a ban within Odisha,” Mr. Kamat submitted. He pushed for a hearing at 2 p.m. on Thursday (July 16, 2026), but the Bench said it would take up the petition first in the list on July 17. The High Court’s interim order under challenge was passed by a Division Bench of Chief Justice Harish Tandon and Justice M.S. Raman while hearing a public interest litigation filed by Mahesh Kumar Sahu of Angul, along with Dr. Pramod Kumar Acharya of Puri and Umashankar Acharya of Nimapada.
The petition had sought the cancellation of the film’s certification and a ban on its public screening in the State. The petition had objected to the portrayal of Lord Jagannath in the film and had sought a detailed judicial scrutiny.
The BriefWire