Bombay High Court to Hear Palekar's Petition on Pre-Censorship of Plays

On November 7, 2025, the Bombay High Court announced that it will hear a petition filed by acclaimed actor Amol Palekar seeking protection of artistic freedom. Palekar, who is now 85 years old, has been fighting this battle for over a decade, challenging rules that mandate pre-censorship of scripts for plays and dramas.

Palekar's counsel, Anil Anturkar, urged the court to take up the petition, which was filed back in 2016. Anturkar told the bench of Justices Riyaz Chagla and Farhan Dubash that the petitioner wants a resolution, whether positive or negative, to his long-standing case. The court agreed and scheduled the hearing for December 5, 2025.

In his petition, Palekar has argued that the rules requiring pre-censorship of play scripts by the Maharashtra State Performance Scrutiny Board are "arbitrary" and violate the fundamental rights of citizens. He contends that this pre-censorship leads to the curtailment of artistic freedom, preventing many historic plays from being performed in their original form.

The court's decision to finally hear Palekar's case comes at a time when there is no longer any censorship of shows and series on over-the-top (OTT) platforms. This development has heightened the focus on the issue of creative expression and the need to protect the rights of artists and performers.