Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud on Tuesday agreed to urgently list on May 15 an appeal against Kerala High Court's interim order refusing to stay the screening of the film The Kerala Story and cancel its CBFC.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal referenced the matter before a bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud for the early listing of the plea.
On May 5, the Kerala High Court refused to issue a stay order preventing the release of "The Kerala Story."
The High Court asked petitioners how the film, which it observed is fiction and not history, would cause sectarianism and conflict in the society, asserting that secular Kerala society will accept it for what it is.
The judge wanted to know if the trailer as a whole was against society.
"Nothing will happen just because the film is screened. The teaser of the film was released in November. What was offensive in the film? What is wrong in saying that Allah is the only God? The country gives citizens the right to believe in their religion and God and spread it. What was offensive in the trailer?" the court observed while considering a batch of petitions seeking to cancel the film's censor certificate.
"So many movies have already come out about such organizations. There have been references against Hindu monks and Christian priests in many films before. Did you see all this in the way of fiction? What is so special now? How does this movie create sectarianism and conflict in the society?" the court observed.
"The Kerala Story' film is based on a terror conspiracy. It shows the ugly truth of terrorism and exposes the design of terrorists", the PM said adding that Congress is standing with terrorists who are trying to ban the film.
Earlier today, Yogi Adityanath-led government on Tuesday decided to declare ‘The Kerala Story’ tax-free in the state.
About The Kerala Story
In ‘The Kerala Story’, actress Adah Sharma plays the role of Fathima Ba, a Hindu Malayali nurse, who is among the 32,000 women who went missing from Kerala and were then recruited to the ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) after being forced to convert to Islam. Also, the film highlights 'Love Jihad' propaganda, where Muslim men manipulate Hindu girls to convert to Islam and abandon their families.
Soon after the trailer of the film was released, a petition was filed against it on grounds of 'worst kind of hate speech' and 'audio-visual propaganda'. Many political leaders slammed the film and claimed that the makers are making false claims that it is a real story and that the number '32000 women' is fake.
The movie, directed by Sudipto Sen and produced by Vipul Amrutlal Shah, will open in theaters on May 5.
Adah Sharma, Yogita Bihani, Siddhi Idnani, and Sonia Balani play the lead roles in the movie.
The trailer of Sen's film 'The Kerala Story' experienced harsh criticism as it guaranteed that 32,000 young ladies from the state disappeared and later joined the psychological oppressor bunch, ISIS.
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