SC stays West Bengal government’s order banning ‘The Kerala Story’ in the state, asks Tamil Nadu to provide security to moviegoers

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the West Bengal government’s order banning the screening of the movie ‘The Kerala Story’ and asked Tamil Nadu to ensure the safety of movie goers as theater owners banned the film due to security reasons. It was decided to stop the performance.

A bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud also directed the producer to put a disclaimer on the claim of converting 32,000 Hindu and Christian women to Islam by 5 pm on May 20.

According to the apex court, the disclaimer should state that ‘there is no authenticated data to support the suggestion on the conversion figure and the film represents a fictionalized version’. The bench, also comprising Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala, said it would like to see the film before proceeding to decide the petitions challenging the grant of CBFC certification. It said the petitions would be taken up for hearing in the second week of July.

The bench also took note of the submissions that there is no ban on the film in Tamil Nadu and asked the state government to ensure the safety of those watching the film.

During the hearing, it said that the statutory provisions cannot be used to ‘impose a premium on public intolerance’. The bench said that it is the duty of the state government to maintain law and order as the film has been granted certification by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).

“Bad films bomb at the box office,” the bench said. “The legal provision cannot be used to put a premium on public intolerance. Otherwise, all films would find themselves in this place,” the bench said during the hearing.

Senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for the producer of the film, said that the state cannot appeal against the certification of the film.

Salve said that no one has filed any statutory appeal against the certification granted to the film and cited judgments to buttress his argument that it was held that the Supreme Court cannot sit in appeals on CBFC certification . The top court was hearing petitions challenging the film’s producer banning its release in West Bengal and theater owners in Tamil Nadu challenging the decision not to screen the film in the state, while journalist Kurban Ali challenged the Kerala High Court . Order banning the release of the film

‘The Kerala Story’ starring Adah Sharma hit the screens on May 5. The film, directed by Sudipto Sen, claims that women from Kerala were forced to convert to Islam and recruited by the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group.