Saying that the state should have dealt firmly with those who preach hate, the Bombay High Court today set aside state government's order suspending exhibition of the film 'Deshdrohi', which deals with the issue of north Indians' plight in the city.

Calling the order as "arbitrary", division bench of Chief Justice Swatanter Kumar and Justice Dhananjay Chandrachud said that state cannot transgress on fundamental rights of the citizens for "the purpose of its convenience".

The film, directed and produced by Kamal R Khan, was banned in Maharashtra on November 12 last year. It was released elsewhere in the country, but the state did not change its stand even after the High Court asked it to review the decision.

As the film came on the heels of Raj Thackeray's anti-north Indians agitation, government feared violent reaction.

But Justice Chandrachud, in his individual order, said, "Though we have increasingly become vulnerable to violence from outside the nation, as recent events would show, it is important in the time of crisis to reaffirm, rather than revise, our commitment to our core constitutional values."

Referring to an apprehension in police's internal correspondence about Raj Thackeray's party exploiting the film for its agitation, Chandrachud said: "State is not powerless if any segment of the society, be it a political party or its protagonist, preaches hate towards those who originated elsewhere."

"State ought to have firmly dealt with those preached hatred and instigated violence...but ironically it tried to suppress those who tried to express anguish of the victims," Chandrachud added.