SC agrees to list on May 15 plea against HC order on ‘The Kerala Story’ release

The Supreme Court agreed on Tuesday to hear an appeal against the Kerala High Court’s interim order refusing to stay the release of the film ‘The Kerala Story’ on May 15. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal raised the issue before a bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud in order for the plea to be heard as soon as possible. The Kerala High Court refused to issue a stay order on the release of the film ‘The Kerala Story’ on May 5.

Asserting that secular Kerala society will accept the film for what it is, the High Court questioned petitioners on how the film, which it noted was fiction rather than history, would cause sectarianism and conflict in the society. The court wanted to know if the caravan as a whole was against society.

“Nothing will happen just because the film is screened. The teaser of the film was released in November. What was offensive in the film? What is wrong in saying that Allah is the only God? The country gives citizens the right to believe in their religion and God and spread it. What was offensive in the trailer?” the court observed while considering a batch of petitions seeking to cancel the film’s censor certificate.

“So many movies have already come out about such organizations. There have been references against Hindu monks and Christian priests in many films before. Did you see all this in the way of fiction? What is so special now? How does this movie create sectarianism and conflict in the society?” the court observed.

“The Kerala Story’ film is based on a terror conspiracy. It shows the ugly truth of terrorism and exposes the design of terrorists”, the PM said adding that Congress is standing with terrorists who are trying to ban the film.

The lead actors in ‘The Kerala Story’ are Adah Sharma, Yogita Bihani, Siddhi Idnani, and Sonia Balani. The trailer for Sen’s film ‘The Kerala Story’ sparked outrage because it claimed that 32,000 girls from the state went missing and later joined the terrorist organisation ISIS. Faced with backlash, the filmmakers removed the figure and described the film as “the story of three women from Kerala” in the trailer.