The Kerala High Court on Tuesday refused to pass any interim order on the release of ‘The Kerala Story’ in the wake of a PIL filed by Advocate Anoop VR against the movie.
While hearing the petition, a division bench comprising Justice N Nagaresh and Justice Mohammed Nias CP asked the petitioner whether he has watched the movie. Advocate Kaleeswaram Raj, appearing for the petitioner, submitted that the petitioner has extracted certain passages from the trailer.
To this, the court asked whether the references in the teaser could be considered as the full content of the film. The court said that the petitioner can’t bring the concept of hate speech into an art form. This is a piece of art, it can’t compare with hate speech, the court said.
“This is teaser. Is this part of the film? Have you seen the cinema,” the Court asked.
“What is available in public domain is trailer and teasor. Film will be released on 5th. Nobody has seen the cinema. What is available in public domain alone can be looked at for the time being,” the counsel responded and added that there is no point in discussion after lakhs of people watched the trailer.
“What is so big about this? After all it is a story,” the court said, adding, “Hate speech goes against constitutional morality,” the petitioner’s counsel Kaleeswaram Raj submitted.
“This is a piece of art. You cannot compare this with hate speech,” said Justice Nagaresh.
“If this court feels that this is not hate speech, then nothing else is hate speech,” Kaleeswaram Raj responded.
This will have to be tested on the basis of constitutional morality. This goes against secularism. The Censor Board is abetting it,” Raj submitted.
“You have not seen the film. You do not know the content. You have only seen the teaser and you are blaming the Censor Board”, the Bench said.
Advocate Amit Naik, appearing for the director and producer of the movie, submitted that the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) after applying its mind has granted a censor certificate on the 24th April. “The body which is specially constituted under a statute has applied its mind in terms of Section 5b”, he submitted.
Appearing for Sunshine Pictures Pvt. Ltd, Senior Advocate S Sreekumar submitted that the petitioner has approached the court without seeing the film, seeing only the teaser with mala fide intensions.
The court has sought instructions from the CBFC and has listed the matter hearing on Friday. The court asked Deputy Solicitor General (DSG) S. Manu to make available the Censor Certificate on Friday.
The petitioner, Advocate Anoop VR, in his petition, sought a stay on the show of the movie `The Kerala Story’ in its present form. The petition also sought to quash the ‘A’ certificate granted to the movie as unjust and illegal.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has on Friday declined to entertain a petition to stay the release of the film The Kerala Story. The petition was filed in the form of an interlocutory application in the matter of a pending writ petition seeking action against hate speech crimes.
The bench comprising Justices KM Joseph and BV Nagarathna asked the petitioners to challenge the certification of the film through an appropriate forum rather than seek a stay on the release of the movie.
The film has been opposed by the Left parties, the Congress and the Indian Union Muslim League. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has on Sunday come out against the movie, saying it is the product of the Sangh Parivar’s lie factory and that it was made with the aim of spreading hatred against Kerala.
Congress leader and leader of Opposition in the Kerala Assembly V D Satheesan on Friday urged the state government not to give screening permission for the film.
In this connection, Muslim League state secretary PMA Salam has the other day criticised the CPI-M, based on a statement made by party veteran VS Achuthanandan some years back. Stating that the film makers are making the statement made by former Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan 13 years back , as a supportive reference in the trailer of the film, Salam asked as to whether the CPI-M’s attitude is the same now. VS Achuthanandan some years back said that efforts are being made to turn the state into a Muslim nation in twenty years.