Censor Board Responds to Corruption Allegations by Tamil Actor Vishal
Censor Board Responds to Corruption Allegations by Tamil Actor Vishal
While Vishal has publicly admitted that he has paid bribes, he fails to realize that bribe giving as well as receiving is an offence for which he can be punished under law.
By Rakesh Raman
The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), also called Censor Board in short, has issued a rebuttal to the corruption allegations made by leading Tamil actor Vishal.
In a statement published by the news agency ANI on September 29, the CBFC said it has zero tolerance for corruption, but any attempt to malign its image will not be tolerated. It is a CBFC warning to Vishal who had publicly alleged corruption at the Mumbai office of CBFC.
In a tweeted video on September 28, the actor explained that he had to pay a bribe of Rs. 6.5 lakh to get the CBFC certificate for the Hindi version of his film Mark Antony.
Vishal said that it is fine to show corruption on the silver screen, but it should not happen in real life at government offices. “Never faced this situation ever in my career. My hard earned money is gone for corruption,” Vishal said in his video message.
He appealed to the chief minister of Maharashtra Eknath Shinde and the prime minister of India Narendra Modi to take notice of this incident. It is learnt that the government had ordered an investigation.
The CBFC, however, accused Vishal of using unauthorized agents for obtaining film certificates instead of applying through its transparent online system. “This goes against the objective of eliminating third-party involvement in the certification process,” CBFC said in its statement.
Although the actor does not understand the extent of rampant corruption in India, in his tweet today (September 30), he thanked Modi and Shinde for taking action on his complaint.
While Vishal has publicly admitted that he has paid bribes, he fails to realize that bribe giving as well as receiving is an offence for which he can be punished under law.
By Rakesh Raman, who is a national award-winning journalist and social activist. He is the founder of the humanitarian organization RMN Foundation which is working in diverse areas to help the disadvantaged and distressed people in the society. He has also been publishing The Integrity Bulletin news magazine since 2018 to cover local and international corruption issues to engage with different stakeholders who are trying to combat corruption in the world.
