A still from Eklavya

Mumbai, Oct. 18: The Film Federation of India, which chooses India’s official entry to the Oscars, has a month to set its house in order.

Bombay High Court, hearing a petition against this year’s choice, Eklavya, has asked the federation to come up with a bias-free selection process. “We are keen on setting the selection process right,” it said.

The federation told the court it would be ready with the guidelines by the next hearing on November 22.

It will have to show the guidelines to petitioner Bhavna Talwar, whose film Dharm lost out in the race, before submitting them in court.

Vinod Pande, the chairman of the selection committee, said the federation has managed to “embarrass him and the other jury members”.

After the court admitted the petition that the selection was biased because Ranjit Bahadur — who edited the promotional video The Making of Eklavya — was a jury member, the federation had got permission from the Academy of Motion Pictures to put its choice on hold. Later, Eklavya was confirmed as the official entry.

“It’s an embarrassment because we didn’t know that someone with a questionable background was a member of the jury. If we had known, we could have excused ourselves,” Pande said. “When I came to know, I called a meeting to decide if we could reconsider the selection but I was vetoed by Supran Sen, the federation secretary.”

No one from the federation was available for comment.

Talwar today gave up her demand that the federation reconsider its choice. The deadline for submitting entries had passed and if Eklavya were to be recalled, India would have to go without an official entry, she said.

The court said it would not “disturb the selection of Eklavya in national interest”.

At present, an 11-member jury is appointed by the federation every year to choose India’s entry. After constituent groups of the federation send in their nominations, the jury draws up a shortlist. The final selection is by secret ballot.