Kerala High Court warns against petitions seeking ban on movies, says it may give them unnecessary publicity

On Tuesday, the Kerala High Court expressed its opinion on petitions against movies like The Kerala Story, saying that such petitions may give the movies unnecessary publicity. 

The bench of Justices N Nagaresh and Mohammed Nias CP sought the response of the Central government and the producers of the movie on a plea filed by advocate Anoop VR seeking a stay on the release of the movie.

Justice Nagaresh asked how the court could interfere with and ban works of art. Advocate Kaleeswaram Raj, appearing for the petitioner, said that the teaser of the movie contained hate speech and was an insult to the State of Kerala. 

The bench questioned how the teaser could be conflated with hate speech. Senior Advocate S Sreekumar, appearing for the producer of the movie, said that the teaser was published on social media first and the Censor Board had also granted a certificate.

Raj argued that the Censor Board had only given the certificate on a partial evaluation of the movie, and asked whether the teaser trailer had a certificate from the Board. 

Deputy Solicitor General S Manu said that a similar matter is pending before the Supreme Court, and that the petitioner’s allegation that the certificate was issued on partial evaluation only is not based on any fact or material. Raj maintained that he was not seeking to ban the film, but was asking for confirmation if the teaser had been certified or not.

The Court eventually sought the response of the respondents as regards the Censor Board clearance and posted the matter for further consideration on May 5. 

The Supreme Court had earlier today refused to allow urgent listing of a similar plea and had asked the petitioner to approach the High Court or mention before the Chief Justice of India.

Also Read: Plea Filed Against Release of The Kerala Story: Supreme Court of India Declines Interim Relief