SC asks petitioners against ‘The Kerala Story’ to move appropriate forum as film was cleared by Censor Board

SC asks petitioners against ‘The Kerala Story’ to move appropriate forum as film was cleared by Censor Board

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has told petitioners who approached it against the upcoming film ‘The Kerala Story’ – which claims to portray the tale of some women from the state who converted to Islam and were recruited to the terror outfit ISIS – that they should have moved the appropriate forum given that the film had already been cleared by the Censor Board.
The bench of Justices K M Joseph and B V Nagarathna disapproved of the applicants raising their grievance in the form of an Interlocutory Application (IA) in the hate speech matter pending before it.
The court told the counsel, who sought an urgent hearing, that it cannot be tagged with the hate speech matters and that they should have moved the high court first. “We cannot tag it. Why don’t you move the high court? The film is certified by board. Unless you challenge certification, we cannot sit in appeal…,” Justice Joseph told Senior Advocate KapilSibal and Advocate Nizam Pasha who raised the issue.
Mentioning it before the bench, the counsel said it was “the worst instance of hate speech” and is “audio-visual propaganda”. They added that they had approached the apex court as there is no time for any other remedy given that the film is releasing this week.
Sibal said the court should go through the transcript of the trailer and added that it had already received 16 million views on YouTube. He said it is also set to be released in other languages.
The court however said they could not have challenged it in the form of the IA but should have challenged the certification in a substantive petition.
A substantive petition will be filed by Thursday, Sibal said, and urged the court to look at the application in the meanwhile. Not inclined to entertain the prayer, Justice Nagarathna told the counsel, “can’t start everything at the Supreme Court”.
Sibal, however, said that the issue of the UPSC Jihad show on Sudarshan TV started at the apex court. The court reiterated that the petitioners approach the appropriate forum. “If you have to get relief in this case, this may not be the forum…,” remarked Justice Joseph.
Jamiat moves top court, seeks stay on release of film: ‘Likely to cause enmity’
New Delhi: The JamiatUlama-I-Hind moved the Supreme Court on Tuesday seeking a stay on the release of the film The Kerala Story in theatres, OTT platforms and “other such avenues”. The organisation contended that the film, slated for release on May 5, is “likely to cause hatred and enmity between different sections of society in India”.
The plea said that “the movie demeans the entire Muslim community…particularly Muslim youth…and it will result in endangering the life and livelihood of the Petitioners and the entire Muslim community in our country”. The Jamiat called it “a direct infringement under Articles 14, 21 and 19(1)(g) of the Constitution”.
Agencies

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