New Delhi, April 11: The Supreme Court today asked Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and the Chandigarh administration to respond to a petition filed by an actor-scriptwriter who has challenged a ban on his Punjabi movie Sadda Haq that allegedly glorifies the Khalistan movement.

Chief Justice Altamas Kabir and Justices Anil Dave and Vikramjit Sen asked the authorities of the three states and the Union territory to respond within four weeks.

Senior counsel Colin Gonzalves, who appeared for Kuljinder Sidhu, the film’s lead actor and producer, said the allegation was unfounded and the gag order violated the fundamental right of free speech and expression.

When Justice Kabir asked Wasim Ahmed Quadri, the counsel for the Delhi government, why the ban had been imposed in the capital, the lawyer said it was “to prevent breach of peace and law and order”.

The counsel said the movie was likely to inflame passions in Delhi, which has a large Sikh population, though it might not have the same impact in states like Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Gonzalves told the court the three states and the Union territory had banned the film on mere apprehension although the Central Board for Film Certification (CBFC) had cleared it on March 14.

A day before its release on April 5, the Chandigarh administration, and the governments in Punjab and Haryana had banned the film.

The film is reportedly based on the tumultuous events in Punjab in the 1980s and ’90s when the Khalistan movement for a separate Sikh homeland was at its peak, resulting in killings by militants and alleged police torture and extra-judicial killings.