Film “The Kerala Story “is accused of encouraging hate speech in a petition to the Supreme Court, but the court rules that the High Court should be consulted first.
The release of the upcoming film The Kerala Story is being challenged in court on the grounds that it encourages hate speech.
A bench of Justices KM Joseph and BV Nagarathna was hearing another case involving hate speech on Tuesday when attorney Nizam Pasha brought forward the petition for an urgent listing.
However, Justice Joseph pointed out that since the present case involves the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), a statutory authority, the matter cannot be brought as an interim application in the currently pending case.
He added that the relevant High Court should be contacted first and that a new petition will therefore need to be filed.
No, we can’t tag it. Why don’t you file a petition with the respective High Court first? See, a board has approved it following a procedure,” Justice Joseph said.
“Lordships may simply review the transcript while we take a break. 16 million people have already viewed the trailer. Kapil Sibal, a senior lawyer, stated that by tomorrow, “we will file a substantial Petition.”
The bench then pointed out that the Chief Justice of India should have heard it first.
You can’t always come right here, Justice Nagarathna said.
“This is Kerala-related?” Judge Joseph asked
“Yes,” Sibal responded.
This cannot be the means of relief. In another case, an IA,” the bench remarked.
In the Hindi movie “The Kerala Story”, a group of women from Kerala enlist in the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
The film has drawn criticism, with both the opposition Congress party and the state’s ruling CPI(M) party accusing it of being a propaganda piece that promotes the false narrative and objectives of right-wing parties.
The movie is scheduled to be released on May 5, Friday.