'The Kerala Story': SC again declines to interfere in release of film

New Delhi [India], May 4 : The Supreme Court on Thursday again declined to interfere with the release of the upcoming movie 'The Kerala Story'.

A bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala refused to entertain a plea challenging CBFC certification granted to 'The Kerala Story'.

"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," the bench said.

The apex court said Kerala High Court has declined to stay the release of the movie, Supreme Court has declined to hear petitions and asked petitioners to move High Court, and now we cannot hear a challenge to the clearance given by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).

"Look at it from the perspective of the film producer. How many times will this be challenged? Kerala High Court had applied its mind while refusing interim relief of staying the film release. You go back to the High Court. We are very careful in staying release of a film," CJI said.

The petitioners sought a hearing of the plea against the grant of a certificate to the film against upcoming film saying their case before the Kerala High Court was not heard today as the bench is not sitting.

The apex court told the petitioners to raise the grievance before the High Court only.

Senior advocate Huzefa Ahmadi mentioned that the matter before CJI saying that the Kerala High Court refused to constitute a bench today to hear the matter before the release, despite the apex court allowing the petitioners to seek an urgent hearing of their case.

On Wednesday, the top court refused to entertain pleas seeking a stay on the release of the movie in theatres and OTT platforms and allowed the petitioners to approach the Kerala High Court.

On Tuesday, Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind approached the Supreme Court seeking a stay on the release of the movie in theatres and OTT platforms saying the movie was likely to cause hatred and enmity between different sections of society in India.

The plea said the film demeans the entire Muslim community and it will result in endangering the life and livelihood of the entire Muslim community.

Seeking direction to not allow the release of the movie, the plea also sought direction that its trailer be removed from the internet.

Alternatively, it 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 orgsations. 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 plea stated.

It added 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, it further said.

The movie may adversely impact social relations between communities as well as individuals belonging to different communities by spreading enmity, hatred and suspicion, the plea stated.

Another plea was also filed on May 2 seeking a stay on the release of the film saying it allegedly promotes hate speech.

"The film claims to be 'inspired by many true stories'. The story-line of the said film as seen from the trailer is how thousands of Hindu and Christian women are being lured and brainwashed by Muslim men pursuant to an international conspiracy, converted to Islam, turned into radicals and trafficked to become part of ISIS where they are kept against their will, abused and exploited," the plea said.

The film depicts how thousands of young women were allegedly brainwashed into joining the Islamic State (IS) and heading off to countries like Syria and Afghstan.

'The Kerala Story', starring Adah Sharma, is set to be released in cinemas on May 5.

Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor