Punjab decides to ban screening of 'MSG: the Messenger of God'

"The formal decision was taken by chief minister Parkash Singh Badal himself after the proposal against screening of the film was mooted by the state home affairs department," Hindustan Times reported quoting government sources.

"The state government issued a five-page notification and suspended the screening under Punjab Cinema Act 1952, directing the deputy commissioners and senior superintendents of police of the districts to ensure the movie is not screened across the state," the newspaper reported.

Meanwhile, a day after Censor board chairman Leela Samson quit amid controversy over the film "MSG: The Messenger of God", altogether nine Censor Board members resigned on Saturday, media reports said.

“It is our firm position that given the cavalier and dismissive manner in which the CBFC (Central Board of Film Certification) is treated by the government, it is impossible to perform this duty with even a modicum of efficacy or autonomy,” the outgoing members wrote in their resignation letter to the Information and Broadcasting Ministry.

Alleging that the advisory panel is full of people with questionable credentials, the members further said that the attempt to make film certification transparent had become frustrating.

“This Board has consistently attempted to make the certification process more uniform, transparent, consistent and sensitive to the freedom of filmmakers' right to expression with responsibility. The struggle to do so has been extremely frustrating and disappointing…The Advisory Panel continues to be filled up with people of questionable credentials appointed directly by the Ministry, without taking the Board's recommendations into account," the resignation note said.

Samson’s resignation came following the controversy over the film “MSG: the Messenger of God” starring Dera Sachcha Sauda group chief Gurmeet Singh Ram Rahim, the clearance of which was objected by the Board.