Supreme Court stays West Bengal Government order banning film ‘The Kerala Story’ - watsupptoday.com
Supreme Court stays West Bengal Government order banning film ‘The Kerala Story’
Posted 18 May 2023 04:16 PM

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WATSUPPTODAY DESK
18-05-2023

The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed West Bengal Government’s order banning film “The Kerala Story”. A bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud said 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 will find themselves in this spot,” the bench, also comprising justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwala, said during the hearing which is still on. The states cannot sit in appeal over the grant of certification to the movie, said senior advocate Harish Salve appearing for the producer of the movie.
Salve said nobody has filed any statutory appeal against the grant of certification to the film and referred judgments to buttress his submissions that it was held that the Supreme Court cannot sit in appeal over the CBFC certification. The top court is hearing cross-pleas, with the producer of the film challenging the ban on its screening in West Bengal and the decision by theatre owners in Tamil Nadu to not show the movie in the state while journalist Qurban Ali has challenged the Kerala High Court order refusing to stay the release of the film. “The Kerala Story”, starring Adah Sharma, was released in cinema halls on May 5. Directed by Sudipto Sen, the film claims women from Kerala were forced to convert to Islam and recruited by the terror group Islamic State (IS).

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