New Delhi: The Supreme Court today slammed the Karnataka Government and asked it to allow the release of Kamal Haasan’s Tamil film Thug Life, stating that it cannot allow mobs and vigilantes to take over the streets.

Expressing concerns over the “extra-judicial ban” on the screening of Thug Life, directed by Mani Ratnam, a Bench, comprising Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice Manmohan, said the rule of law demands that any film which has a Central Board of Film Certification certificate must be released and the State has to ensure its screening.

The Bench was hearing a PIL filed by one Mahesh Reddy seeking directions to allow the screening of Thug Life, which was not released in Karnataka after certain groups issued threats against its screening following the remarks of Kamal Haasan, who is also one of the producers of the film, that “Kannada was born out of Tamil.”

The Bench said, if Kamal Haasan has said anything inconvenient, it cannot be taken as a gospel truth and the enlightened people of Karnataka should have debated and said he was wrong.

Supreme Court has given one-day time to the Karnataka Government to apprise it about the release of the movie in the State.