Censor board \'corruption\': CBI lodges FIR to probe bribery charges by actor Vishal
Tamil actor Vishal, who made a comeback of sorts with his hit film ‘Mark Antory’, had made startling allegations against few members and officials of Central Board of Film Certification.
In a swift reaction to charges, the Central Bureau of Investigation has registered a case against three private persons and several unknown people, including the officials of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). The actor had alleged that he had to pay a bribe of Rs 6.5 lakh to get a censor certificate for the Hindi version of his film, Mark Antony. The Hindi version of the film was released on September 28.
"It was alleged that during the month of September, 2023, a private person entered a conspiracy with others to obtain a bribe of Rs.7,00,000/- & to get the required censor certificate from CBFC, Mumbai for a movie dubbed in Hindi," CBI said in a statement.
"It was further alleged that in furtherance of the said conspiracy, she initially demanded bribe on behalf of CBFC Mumbai officials amounting to Rs.7,00,000/- from the Complainant and subsequently after negotiation, she allegedly accepted Rs.6,54,000/- as bribe on behalf of CBFC Mumbai officials in two bank accounts of other two accused," it added.
The agency said the accused allegedly obtained ₹20,000 in her bank account from a private company.
The agency conducted searches at four places in Mumbai that were linked to the accused and others. They recovered incriminating documents. Those booked have been identified as Merlin Menaga, Jeeja Ramdas and Rajan M.
Earlier, in a video, Vishal, addressing Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said, “We applied for a certificate online and we had to come in at the last minute due to some technical issue. But, we were taken aback by what happened at the CBFC office in Mumbai. When my person visited the office, we were given an option to pay the price of ₹6.5 lakh and get the certification the same day. We were left with no option.”
"We were supposed to give ₹3 lakh for the screening to happen at the CBFC and another ₹3.5 lakh to get the certificate," he said.
He said a woman told him that it was common practice that people paid ₹4 lakh when they submitted films 15 days ahead of the release date. "We had no option, we paid the money in two instalments. If this is the case in government offices, I really request higher authorities to look into this matter," he said.
