Streaming platform ZEE5 says it will legally challenge a federal advisory that halted the release of a documentary on alleged gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, telling the Delhi High Court the move amounts to censorship ahead of publication.

Senior counsel Rajeev Nayar, appearing for the platform, told a bench of Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav that India’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting issued a directive shortly before the scheduled release of the documentary Lawrence of Punjab, instructing that it be withheld.

Nayar said the order effectively blocked the release of the production, prompting ZEE5 to initiate legal proceedings to contest the government’s intervention.

The court was also hearing a separate petition filed by Bishnoi seeking to stop the documentary’s release, citing violations of his personal rights. The matter was adjourned until April 27 after his legal counsel did not appear.

The matter will next be heard on April 27.