The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the release of the Annu Kapoor-starrer ‘Hamare Baarah’, directing the Bombay High Court to expedite the hearing of a petition that accused the film of being derogatory to Islam and married Muslim women.

The top court's vacation bench, comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta, halted the release of the film, which was scheduled to hit theatres on Friday, June 14.

'We have seen the movie trailer in the morning and all the offensive dialogues continue in the trailer,' the bench was quoted by PTI as saying.

'Until the disposal of the petition before the High Court, the screening of the movie in question shall remain suspended.

We request the High Court to dispose of the plea expeditiously,' the bench ordered.

A petition was filed in the Bombay High Court against the certification of the film by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).

The petitioner sought to revoke the certification and injunction on the release.

The film's producer, Virender Bhagat, told ANI, 'I want to thank the Supreme Court for hearing us today.

The censor board said that this is a movie on women's empowerment and population awareness and had submitted the report to the Bombay High Court.

''The Supreme Court said that the film screening would be stopped as decided by the Bombay High Court.

SC also gave instructions to hear this matter immediately and give a verdict on this as early as possible,' the film's producer added.

Senior advocate Rahul Narichania, representing the filmmakers, agreed to delete the two dialogues objected to by the petitioners to avoid delays.