The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear on May 15 an appeal against the interim order of the Kerala High Court refusing to block the release of the film ‘The Kerala Story’.
The Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud heading a bench also comprising Justice S Ravindra Bhat and Justice Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha said that the case will be listed for hearing on May 15 after senior advocate Kapil Sibal mentioned the matter for an early listing.
Sibal appeared for the petitioner who, while seeking the stay of the release of the film, challenged Censor Board of Film Certifications’s (CBFC) nod to the film.
“This is pertaining to the Kerala story. This has some sort of urgency. The High Court has passed the order and refused the interim stay,” Sibal told the bench in his mentioning.
‘The Kerala Story’, starring Adah Sharma, was released in cinemas on May 5.
Declining to stall the release of the film, the High Court had observed that there was no allegation against a religion, but only against the organisation Islamic State or ISIS. The High Court had also said that there was nothing offensive to any particular community.
The high court had watched the trailer of the film before refusing to interfere with the screening of the film. The High Court’s refusal to stay the release of the film came on a batch of petitions challenging CBFC certification granted to the film.
Earlier, the Supreme Court had declined to interfere with the release of the controversial film and had asked the High Court to decide the pleas in the first instance.
The top court had then said, “Think about the labour of actors, producers who put in a lot of work. A filmmaker invests a lot of money and time in making the film. Leave it to the market, the market will decide if it is not up to the mark.”
Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind had approached the Supreme Court seeking stay on the release of the film in theatres and on OTT platforms saying that the controversial film is likely to cause hatred and enmity between different sections of society.
The Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind had said that the film demeans the entire Muslim community and it will result in endangering the life and livelihood of entire Muslim community.
Seeking direction to not allow the release of the film, the plea also sought direction that its trailer be removed from the internet.
Alternatively, it had sought direction that the movie ‘The Kerala Story’ be released with a disclaimer stating that it is a work of fiction and the characters in the movie bear no resemblance to any person living or dead.
“The message the movie imparts is that non-Muslim young women are being lured into converting to Islam by their classmates and subsequently, trafficked to West Asia where they are forced to join terrorist organisations. The movie gives the impression that apart from extremist clerics who radicalise people, ordinary Muslim youngsters, their classmates, also play an instrumental role in luring non-Muslims and radicalising them by posing as friendly and good-natured, in accordance with instructions given by extremist scholars,” the Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind plea had stated.
It had said that the film promotes the view that “love jihad” is being used to lure non-Muslim women into converting to Islam and also joining ISIS”.
However, an investigation by the State police carried out in 2009 revealed that there was no evidence of “love jihad” in the State of Kerala, the Jamiat had said.