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Synopsis

The Supreme Court today allowed Delhi resident, Puneet Kaur Bajwa, to withdraw her plea filed against the states which had banned or restricted screening of movie 'The Kerala Story'.

A bench of CJI Chandrachud with Justices PS Narasimha and Manoj Mishra allowed the petitioner to withdraw her plea on account of the court's previous order staying the orders passed by states banning the movie.

Bajwa had contended that it is the duty of the State government to ensure the safety of the citizens and also to maintain peace and harmony. 

"The States which are screening the movie are rather peaceful and the States which have banned this movie are rather facing communal unrest as there are citizens of the country who want to watch this movie but are being deprived of it and also people who are going to watch the movie are being attacked and are also being thrown out of the theatres by the police force forcibly," Bajwa's writ petition submitted. 

Maintaining citizens that have a right to know what is happening in the country, the fresh petition filed through advocates Vineet Dhanda and J P Dhanda said that every movie has some content or the other which might hurt feelings of one or the other section of the society, we cannot go on depriving people to watch these movies by imposing a ban on them.

It is to be noted that on May 18, the Supreme Court had stayed the order of the West Bengal Government banning the screening of movie "The Kerala Story" after it had recently observed that there was no reason for West Bengal to ban the film when it was successfully running throughout India.

CJI DY Chandrachud had then said that it was for the audience to decide what they should do with a movie, instead of mandating bans.

The bench also comprising Justices Narasimha and Pardiwala, while setting aside the ban in West Bengal had further said that it would decide the main plea challenging the CBFC certification in July after watching the movie itself.

CJI had also suggested that a disclaimer be made saying that it is a fictional portrayal.

Notably, the West Bengal government had justified before the Supreme Court its decision to ban 'The Kerala Story', contending that the movie is based on manipulated facts and contains hate speeches in multiple scenes that may hurt communal sentiments and cause disharmony between the communities.

In reply to the petition made by Sunshine pictures, the Tamil Nadu Police had also refuted a charge of "shadow banning" the movie, contending the film was released in 19 multiplexes across the state, despite protests and objections by Muslim organisations but was removed due to poor audience response.

On May 12, hearing a writ petition by the filmmakers Sunshine Pictures Pvt Ltd and producer Vipul Amrutlal Shah, the apex court had asked the West Bengal and the Tamil Nadu governments to explain why the movie, which is run across the country smoothly, can't be exhibited in their States.

A plea was filed by the producers of The Kerala Story, challenging West Bengal's decision to ban the screening of the film. The makers of the movie have also challenged the de facto ban imposed on the move in Tamil Nadu wherein an "alert" was issued anticipating protests, due to which theatres withdrew from releasing the film.

‘The Kerala Story’ showing the theme of 'Love Jihad' and entrapment of Hindu and Christian girls for conversion has stirred hornets' nest with several fringe organisations lodging protests for what they perceived as poor depiction of Islam and its clerics.

The film, produced by Sunshine Pictures Private Ltd and directed by Sudipto Sen, was released on Friday, May 05, 2023 in Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu across the country. 

Case Title: Puneet Kaur Bajwa vs. State of Kerala and Ors