SC issues notice to Bengal over 'The Kerala Story' ban, questions Tamil Nadu on security for theatres

The Supreme Court on Friday issued a notice to the West Bengal government over the ban on the controversial film ‘The Kerala Story’.

The Supreme Court on Friday issued a notice to the West Bengal government seeking a reason behind the ban on the controversial film ‘The Kerala Story’ in the state. A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha said that the film “is being screened in the rest of the country, there appears to be no reason for a ban on its screening”. This came after the producers of the film had filed a plea challenging the ban.

The story of ‘The Kerala Story’ movie revolves around the lives of three girls from the state who narrate their ordeal of being trapped in marriage after converting to Islam and taken to Afghanistan where they are forced to join terrorist outfit ISIS. (File Photo)

“West Bengal is not different from any other part of the country. Why will the state of West Bengal not allow the film to run?”, the top court asked.

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"This has nothing to do with the artistic value of the film. If people do not like the movie, they will not watch the movie," the bench told senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for the West Bengal government.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court also asked the Tamil Nadu government asking to specify all the measures taken to provide security in theatres screening the film.

"The state government cannot say that it will look the other way when theatres are attacked and chairs are being burnt," the bench told advocate Amit Anand Tiwari, appearing for the Tamil Nadu government.

The Mamata Banerjee-led Bengal government imposed a ban on the film on May 8, citing to “avoid any incident of hatred and violence, and to maintain peace in the state.” On the other hand, while Tamil Nadu has not imposed a ban on the film, the government had pulled down the film from theatres last week.

‘The Kerala Story’ - a Sudipto Sen-directorial has been seeing a massive controversy after its trailer claimed that 32,000 women from Kerala had gone missing and joined the terrorist group ISIS. However, as protests intensified, the figure was later withdrawn from the trailer.