Supreme Court hears movie makers' plea challenging West Bengal Government's ban on the movie's screenings
The Supreme Court has issued notices to West Bengal and Tamil Nadu Governments in the writ petition filed by the makers of ‘The Kerala Story’ challenging the Mamata Banerjee Government’s decision to ban the movie. Furthermore, the makers alleged that the movie is facing a ‘shadow ban’ in Tamil Nadu and have sought protection for screening the movie.
The movie maker’s counsel Senior Advocate Harish Salve submitted that the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee made statements against the movie on the release date, alleging that the movie is against a community and its exhibition can cause law and order problems. Furthermore, he submitted that the movie ran in the state without problems for three days before the West Bengal Government banned the movie.
He also submitted that the movie is facing a ‘shadow ban’ in Tamil Nadu after the exhibitors withdrew the movie after facing threats.
The West Bengal Government’s counsel Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi submitted that the maker’s should approach the respective High Court, as the Supreme Court asked the parties in earlier cases to do the same and maintain the discipline. Furthermore, he claimed that there are intelligence reports regarding the law and order problems concerning the movie.
The Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud remarked, “The film is released in the rest of the country. West Bengal is not different from other parts of the Country. If it can run on other parts of the country, why should the State of West Bengal ban the film? If the public does not think that the film is not worth seeing, they will not see it. It is running in other parts of the country which have similar demographic profile as West Bengal. Why should you not allow a film to run?”
The West Bengal Government’s counsel submitted that the government has the power to ban the movie u/s 6 of the West Bengal Cinemas (Regulation) Act, 1954 while opposing the grant of stay.
The CJI said that the Supreme Court will not pass interim order without hearing the State Government.
The CJI asked the MK Stalin Government’s counsel Additional Advocate General Amit Anand Tiwari, “We would like to know from you, what are the specific administrative arrangements to ensure safety. The state government cannot say that we’ll look the other way while theatres are being attacked, chairs being burnt. You are duty bound to ensure security.” Furthermore, the Court asked the Tamil Nadu Government to file an affidavit in the case.
Background
The Trinamool Congress Government banned the film in West Bengal on May 8. CM Mamata Banerjee said, “West Bengal govt has decided to ban the movie The Kerala Story. This is to avoid any incident of hatred and violence, and to maintain peace in the state”.
While taking a dig at ‘The Kashmir Files’, the Chief Minister stated, “What was ‘The Kashmir Files’? It was meant purely to humiliate a particular section of society. What is ‘The Kerala Story’? It is a distorted story”. The CM instructed the state chief secretary to withdraw the film from all theatres where it was playing.
The film’s producer, Vipul Amrutlal Shah, reacted to the ban and said they would seek legal recourse to challenge the State Government’s decision. Shah said, “If state government won’t listen to us, we will explore legal avenues. However, whatever course we take will be based on legal advice,” West Bengal became the first state to ban ‘The Kerala Story.’
Furthermore, Kerala’s ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF), the opposition United Democratic Front (UDF), and other Left and Islamic organisations also spoke out against the release of ‘The Kerala Story’ in the state and called for a ban earlier. The Kerala Congress spoke out against the film and told people to boycott it.
The Kerala Story’s screenings were cancelled, on the opening day, in several Kerala districts after protests against the move. Two shows that were listed to be screened were cancelled in Kochi. The theatre owners at Kochi’s Lulu Mall, PVR Cinemas, and Centre Square Mall decided not to screen the film. However, they did not state any reasons for not screening the film. Furthermore, other movie theatres in Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Kottayam, Idukki, Kannur, and Wayanad districts made similar decisions not to screen the movie.
While theatres and distributors had agreed to show the movie on 50 screens throughout Kerala; however, many pulled out right before the release. Thereafter, the makers decided to run the film on 17 screens.
‘The Kerala Story’, stars Adah Sharma, Yogita Bihani, Sonia Balani, and Siddhi Idnani in the lead roles. The film is produced by Vipul Amrutlal Shah and directed by Sudipto Sen. In the film, actress Adah Sharma plays the role of Fathima Ba, a Hindu Malayali nurse who went missing from Kerala and was recruited by ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) after being forced to convert to Islam.
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