Filmmakers Vishal Bhardwaj, Hansal Mehta, and Guneet Monga, along with actress Richa Chadha, are in a state of shock after the abolition of Film Certification Appellate Tribunal, the statutory body constituted to hear appeals of filmmakers aggrieved by Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) orders.

The body has been dissolved by the Ministry of Law and Justice with immediate effect and the filmmakers will have to approach the high court directly if they are not happy with the decision of the CBFC.

The government has issued an ordinance which does away with certain appellate tribunals, including the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT) set up to hear appeals of filmmakers, and transfers their functions to other existing judicial bodies, reports PTI.

Soon after the news, several film personalities like Hansal Mehta, Vishal Bharadwaj, Guneet Monga, and Richa Chadha took to their social media platforms to criticise the move.

Hansal Mehta took to Twitter to express his disappointment. “Do the high courts have a lot of time to address film certification grievances? How many film producers will have the means to approach the courts? The FCAT discontinuation feels arbitrary and is definitely restrictive. Why this unfortunate timing? Why take this decision at all?,” he wrote.

The statutory body was constituted in 1983.