New Delhi

The Supreme Court of India on Wednesday dismissed a petition seeking to either ban or rename the upcoming film ‘Yadav Ji ki Love Story’, observing that the title does not cast the Yadav community in a negative light.

A bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan rejected the plea filed by the head of the Vishwa Yadav Parishad. After reviewing the material on record, the court noted that the petitioner’s primary objection was that the film’s title allegedly portrayed the Yadav community unfavourably.

Justice Nagarathna remarked that the bench could not see how the title alone could defame a community, pointing out that it contains no words or descriptions that reflect adversely on the Yadavs. The court described the concerns raised as “entirely baseless.”

Distinguishing the matter from its earlier direction in the ‘Ghooskhor Pandat’ case, where the word “ghooskhor” (meaning corrupt) carried a clear negative connotation—the bench said no such derogatory element was present in the current title. It further held that none of the reasonable restrictions on free speech under Article 19(2) of the Constitution were applicable in this case. Consequently, the writ petition was dismissed.

The petitioner had argued that the title promoted an objectionable stereotype and objected to the depiction of the female lead. During arguments, counsel clarified that they were not opposed to inter-community marriage but took issue with how the woman was being presented, noting that the film claimed to be inspired by real events.

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However, the bench was not persuaded and treated the movie as a fictional work.