Set Guidelines For People With Hearing & Vision Disabilities To Enjoy Movies On OTTs & In Theatres: Delhi HC To I&B Ministry

The Delhi High Court on Thursday directed the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) to convene a meeting with movie producers, Over The Top (OTT) platforms, television broadcasters, and other stakeholders to develop guidelines so that people with visual and hearing disabilities can enjoy movies.

Justice Prathiba M Singh directed that the government to submit the draft guidelines before the Court.

“Discussion to be held to discuss how the provisions of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act and Rights of Persons with Disabilities Rules, as well as the Government of India’s circular, are to be implemented. The ministry may frame guidelines in this respect and submit the draft guidelines before the court,” the order stated.

The case has been rescheduled on September 26, 2023.

During the hearing, the Court also directed the Registrar General to consider having an interpreter for High Court proceedings as well.

The Court was hearing a petition filed by a group of lawyers, law students, and hearing and visually impaired people seeking directions to the authorities implement the provisions of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPwD) Act and RPwD Rules so that specially-abled people can watch and enjoy movies in theatres and on OTT platforms.

The Court had ordered the authorities to consider having close subtitles and audio description features in Shahrukh Khan’s Pathaan during the previous hearing in January.

Justice Singh was told today that the order had been followed and that Pathaan was now available on Amazon Prime.

Advocate Rahul Bajaj, who appeared on behalf of the petitioners, made several suggestions that can be implemented so that similar features are available in theatres and on all movies released on OTTs.

After considering the recommendations, the Court noted that the provisions of the RPwD Act and Rules must be implemented immediately.

“A perusal of the rules reveals that the word ‘facilities’ has been defined very broadly. This court believes that broad stakeholder consultation is required to ensure that the act and the government circular are implemented in letter and spirit,” the Court highlighted.

As a result, it directed the authorities to convene a meeting and come up with guidelines.

It also ordered the government officials to consider having a sign language interpreter present at the meeting so that hearing-impaired people could comprehend the developments.