Earlier in January, the Delhi HC had directed Yash Raj Films to develop subtitles, closed captioning and audio description in Hindi for the OTT release of ‘Pathaan’.
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The Delhi High Court on Thursday, April 7, asked the Union government to collaborate with stakeholders such as producers, broadcasters, and disability rights organisations, to create a report on how to make films accessible for individuals with visual or hearing impairment. Justice Pratibha M Singh was dealing with a petition filed by persons with disabilities including a law student, lawyers and a disability rights activist seeking a direction to Yash Raj Films, OTT (over-the-top) platforms and the government to make arrangements as per the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016. Justice Singh stressed that there is no doubt that a system for making content available to individuals with disabilities must be implemented immediately and universally. "The court is of the opinion that although the directions for Pathaan have been implemented, a broad stakeholder consultation would be required to ensure the implementation (of the framework) in letter and spirit," said the court. The court said that while the instructions for Pathaan have been put into action, a comprehensive consultation with all relevant parties would be necessary to ensure the implementation of the framework in both form and substance. "Let the stakeholder consultation be completed by the end of August and a status report be filed by the Ministry (of Information and Technology)," ordered the court. The court said that the ministry has the liberty to develop directives on the matter and present them to the court. Additionally, the court stated that the stakeholders for consultation would comprise film producers, OTT platforms, TV broadcasters, disabled persons organisations, News Broadcasters & Digital Association, and any others that the ministry deems suitable. The court ordered the ministry to consider providing a sign language interpreter during the consultation process to benefit any attendees who are hard of hearing. The court instructed the petitioner to provide information about the interpreter to the high court and suggested that the registrar general may want to consider utilising their services to allow one of the petitioners to observe the proceedings. In the course of the hearing, both parties informed the court that in October 2019, the Union government had issued a circular directing film producers to incorporate necessary features to make the content more accessible to individuals with disabilities. The court recognised that while the Union government has issued directives for incorporating features to make content accessible to individuals with disabilities, the implementation of these features is not uniform across the board. The lawyer for Yash Raj Films stated that they had spent roughly Rs 6 lakh, including GST, to adhere to the court's orders regarding the film Pathaan. The advocate representing Amazon stated that their platform is continually striving to enhance its offerings. After hearing the matter at length, the court listed it to be heard next on September 26. On January 16, the High Court had directed Yash Raj Films to develop subtitles, closed captioning and audio description in Hindi for Pathaan’s OTT release and submit the same to the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) for a decision on re-certification by February 20. The High Court had directed that a decision on recertification of the film be taken by March 10. Justice Singh had observed that the petition raises very important concern about entertainment accessibility for people with visual or hearing impairment and the authorities should make sure that the content is available for them in accessible formats. The court had also noted that special measures will have to be taken to make sure that the persons with disabilities are not denied theatre experience. Justice Singh had also impleaded the Indian Broadcasting and Digital Foundation, Film Producers Association and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology as respondents in the matter.
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