Former Flight Lieutenant Gunjan Saxena, whose life story has been made into a feature film, told the Delhi High Court on Thursday that she never faced discrimination on the basis of her gender in the IAF but had no control over the exercise of ‘creative liberties’ during the making of the film.

On September 18, the Delhi High Court asked the retired Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot to submit an affidavit stating her assessment of the content shown in ‘Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl’.

In her affidavit, she maintained that IAF gave her an opportunity to serve the nation, including in the Kargil War and she will forever remain grateful for the opportunities given to her by the force.

Also read: Delhi High Court refuses to stay streaming of Netflix movie ‘Gunjan Saxena – The Kargil Girl’

“I had no control over the exercise of “creative liberties” during the making of the movie. I have not faced any discrimination on the basis of my gender in the IAF. IAF as an institution is very progressive. I will forever be grateful for the opportunities given to me by the IAF,” the affidavit reads.

Notably, the Centre and IAF filed a plea before Delhi High Court seeking a decree of permanent injunction against the Netflix, Dharma Productions and others from broadcasting or releasing in theatres or any other digital platform the film without grant of no-objection certificate (NOC) from it.

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According to the Centre, the film which was streaming on Netflix, maligns the ‘dignity and reputation’ of the IAF and shows it in poor light and dents its image as it shows that the force is gender-biased, which is not correct.

The high court had earlier issued notices and sought response of Dharma Productions Private Limited, its directors Karan Yash Johar and Hiroo Yash Johar, CEO Apoorva Mehta, Zee Entertainment, director of the movie Sharan Sharma, Netflix Entertainment Services India LLP, M/s Netflix and Gunjan Saxena on the Centre’s suit to remove the movie from all OTT platforms.