Finding the teaser of the controversial movie Hamare Baarah “so offensive,”  the Supreme Court today paused its release, noting “objectionable materials” in the content. The court observed that the teaser contained materials derogatory to the Islamic faith and the married Muslim women. The movie was scheduled to be released tomorrow, June 14.

“We have seen the movie trailer in the morning, and all the offensive dialogues continue in the trailer,” stated a vacation bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta while pronouncing verdict

The top court directed the Bombay High Court, which was considering the issue, to expedite the case and resolve it. The Supreme Court was hearing a plea challenging a Bombay High Court’s order last week, which refused to grant the stay on the release of the Hamare Baarah in a petition filed by Azhar Basha Tamboli.

The movie, starring Annu Kapoor, Manoj Joshi, and Paritosh Tripathi, had faced criticism since the release of its trailer on May 30. The Bombay High Court had allowed the screening of the movie after cutting two dialogues.

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“One individual in a country of 130 crore citizens can not bring such a petition which can stall a film release without granting any guarantee whatsoever for costs incurred by filmmakers in such a case,” the High Court said in its ruling on June 7.

However, responding to the Supreme Court verdict, Manish Srivastava, lawyer for the producers said that as the apex Court asked Bombay High Court to decide on the merit of the case, there is a restraint on the screening. “So the High Court matter is going on right now,” he said.

Advocate Fauzia Shakil, appearing for the petitioner argued that the High Court lifted the stay on the movie’s release through an “unreasoned order.”

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Earlier this week, the Karnataka government had banned the screening of the movie after several Muslim organisations accused the filmmakers of “defaming” the community and “misinterpreting” verses from the Qur’an. The Home department issued the ban order on Thursday.