NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the West Bengal government’s May 8 order banning the screening of the film 'The Kerala Story' in the state.
The bench also directed the filmmaker to put a disclaimer in the movie, which claims 32,000 women from Kerala were converted to Islam, that it is a “fictionalised version of events”. On West Bengal’s contention that screening of the film will disturb social harmony, the bench said it is the duty of the state to maintain law and order as the film has been granted certification by the Central Board of Film Certification.
Observing that the film has been released everywhere in the country and that law can’t be used to “put a premium on public intolerance”, the Supreme Court also directed the Tamil Nadu government to provide adequate security to movie goers. “No steps shall be taken by Tamil Nadu govt or its officers or instrumentalities including police to prevent screening of film,” the court said in the order. “You can’t make fundamental right of free speech to be dependent on public display of emotion... You don’t like it, don’t see,” the bench said, adding: “Bad films bomb at the box office”.
Earlier, theatre owners in Tamil Nadu had refused to screen the film fearing law and order issues. The order came in a plea filed by makers of the Kerala Story, Sunshine Pictures Private Ltd, and Vipul Amrutlal Shah challenging the Mamata Banerjee government’s decision to ban the screening of the film. The bench, then, posted the petitions for final disposal on July 18 saying the judges would like to watch the movie before deciding the challenge to the grant of certification to the film.
