The Kerala Story’s makers requested that the Supreme Court hear their appeal on Friday, May 12, against the West Bengal government’s decision to ban movie screenings there as well as against Tamil Nadu’s de facto ban on the film.
Senior Counsel Harish Salve made the argument for the petitioners on Wednesday before Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud.
Salve stated, “We are losing money every single day, and now another State claims they will do the same”.
Okay, list this Friday. Serve copies to West Bengal’s state government, the CJI said.
Ameet Naik, the managing partner of Naik Naik, attended on behalf of the petitioner along with lawyers Harshvardhan Jha and Yugandhara Pawar Jha.
In order to prevent “any incident of hatred and violence,” the West Bengal government issued an immediate ban on the film’s exhibition in the State on May 8.
Along with the de facto ban imposed on the film by the State of Tamil Nadu, which issued a “alert” anticipating disturbances in connection with its release and caused theatres in the State to pull the film, the top court’s petition also challenges the prohibition in West Bengal.
Relevantly, the argument questioned whether Section 6(1) of the West Bengal Cinemas (Regulation) Act of 1954 was constitutional, under which the West Bengal government issued the order banning the movie.