Pune: The permission given to filmmaker Nagraj Manjule to shoot a film at the playground on the premises of the Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) had caused a controversy a couple of months ago.

Now, State Minister for Higher and Technical Education Ravindra Waikar has instructed the education department to issue a show-cause notice to Vice-Chancellor (VC) Nitin Karmalkar and the university administration.

“If the university fails to take any action against the matter within seven days, the film sets will be confiscated by the government,” this was revealed by Waikar during his visit to the university on Wednesday.

The minister said while allowing the filmmaker to put up sets on the university campus, the SPPU did not obtain adequate permissions from the government.

“When I looked into the matter thoroughly, I noticed that the deadline for the permission granted for shooting ended on December 30. However, the sets are still there. Also, the university needed to take special permission before giving the government land for shooting, which the university has failed to do. Considering all this, I have instructed to issue a ‘show-cause notice’ to the VC in this matter,” Waikar said.
He added that the university did not seek permission from the local administrative body or even the fire
brigade.