Patna, March 2: The politically influential mother and son duo, sentenced by a lower court in the infamous Champa Biswas rape case, have cried foul over the slated March 5 premiere of Insaaf — The Justice as they claim the Bollywood production approximates their “story”.

If released, they say, the film would tarnish their already sullied image as public figures beyond repair. The rich and the powerful in Bihar have often resisted celluloid depiction of their “real” lives.

Champa, the wife of late IAS officer B.B. Biswas, had filed a rape case against Babloo and named her mother as an accomplice, while also naming several Bihar bigwigs as people who, acting through the alleged “conduit” Hemlata, had forced sex with her.

Yadavs’ lawyers contend that the Patna sub-judge II’s court, hearing the case on a day-to-day basis, has already applied the brakes on the film’s premiere and its release, therefore, would amount to the court’s contempt.

The case will be heard next on March 10, five days after the slated premiere date.

Former MLA Hemlata Yadav and her son Mritunjay alias Babloo have served part of their prison term, before Patna High Court, taking cognisance of their appeal, released them on bail.

Champa had gone public after allegedly being subjected to sexual abuse for over three years in Patna. She is said to be now staying in Calcutta with her children.

Babloo’s lawyers claimed that, acting on the basis of newspaper reports, they have reasons to believe that Insaaf — The Justice is inspired by the “case” of their clients. “If the film is released and if the high court later finds them to be innocent, the image of our clients will be sullied for ever,” argued Satyavrat Verma, representing the Yadavs.

Namrata Shirodkar (Kunti) plays the wife of an IAS officer (Prasad), played by Sanjay Suri. The film has Kunika in the role of a minister (Rameshwari Verma) while Dayal Shankar is her son (Bunty).

The movie also has Vallabh Vyas in the role of the chief minister (Chandramohan) of a state in north India.

The synopsis, according to the film’s promo, is: “The deities delight in places where women are revered, but what about the places where a woman is raped every six hours and her dignity maligned every second? At the crux of Insaaf stands a traditional married Indian woman who is not only raped by a man, but the law and the society itself. Finally she rises like a phoenix and her actions promise a beginning of a new era. The fictional tale of a factual account and social history of the 21st century forms the backdrop of Insaaf The Justice.”

The Yadavs’ lawyer said recent magazine advertisements issued by the producers declare that the film will be released on March 5. “After the interim stay on the film’s release on March 25 last year, the court has regularly heard the case, while maintaining status quo. We have no reason to believe that the status quo was vacated on February 27 when the case was last heard,” Verma said.