Court rejects plea against Akshay Kumar's Jolly LLB 3

The Allahabad High Court has dismissed a petition seeking a ban on the release of Akshay Kumar-starrer ‘Jolly LLB 3’ over allegations of demeaning the legal profession [Jay Vardhan Shukla and Another vs Union of India and 6 others].

A division bench of Justice Sangeeta Chandra and Justice Brij Raj Singh reviewed all three official trailers/teasers of the film and concluded that there was nothing objectionable to justify the Court’s intervention.

“We have also gone through the lyrics of the song ‘Bhai Vakeel Hai’ and we do not find anything which may interfere in the practice of the legal profession by genuine advocates,” the Court ruled on September 2.

Petitioner Jay Vardhan Shukla argued before the Court that the film depicts the legal profession in a derogatory light. He further submitted that the trailer and songs, widely circulated on YouTube and other social media platforms, have already started prejudicing the minds of practicing advocates



and causing serious harm to the judiciary.

“The derogatory portrayal in the 'Jolly LLB'. series discourages persons from joining the legal profession and creates disillusionment among law students, thereby affecting the future of the justice delivery system,” the Court was told.

In response, Deputy Solicitor General SB Pandey challenged the maintainability of the plea, noting that the petitioner had not filed any representation before the competent authority regarding the film. It was further argued that, under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, those aggrieved by online content must first approach the intermediary or publisher. Agreeing with the Union of India’s objection, the Court dismissed the petition.

Earlier, Akshay Kumar and Arshad Warsi were summoned by a Pune Civil Court in connection with a petition filed against their upcoming film 'Jolly LLB 3', scheduled for release on September 19.