The Kerala Story contains hate speech, West Bengal tells SC in defence of ban | Latest News India

NEW DELHI: The West Bengal government, which banned the movie ‘The Kerala Story’, has told the Supreme Court that the decision was taken because the film contains “hate speech” and “manipulated facts” which can hurt communal harmony and disturb the law and order situation.

The state government also said the petitioners should have approached the Calcutta high court which is already hearing four cases connected to the ban.

The state’s affidavit, filed through advocate Astha Sharma, said the movie was “based on manipulated facts and contains hate speeches” and there were multiple scenes that have the potential to “hurt communal sentiments” and cause “disharmony among communities”.

It added that the decision was taken after receiving intelligence inputs to this effect following the release of the movie at 90 theatres in the state on May 5. The order was issued under Section 6 of the West Bengal Cinemas (Regulation) Act which empowers the state government and district administration to intervene on the ground that the exhibition of the movie could result in violence and a breach of peace.

The affidavit was filed in response to a petition by the film’s producers, M/s Sunshine Pictures Private Limited and Vipul Amrutlal Shah, who challenged West Bengal’s ban on screening the film on May 8 and asked the court to order Tamil Nadu to provide security after theatre owners decided to stop screening the film.

During a hearing last week, a bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud took exception to Bengal being the only state to ban the film and commented: “If this movie can run across the country, West Bengal cannot be an exception. This film has been released throughout the country and West Bengal is not different from the rest of the country.”

Responding to the court, the state said the state’s duty to maintain law and order and prohibit the exhibition of a film were policy matters where courts should not interfere.

It said that no two states can adopt uniform parameters for maintaining law and order as they vary in terms of population and beliefs. Such issues can only be gone into by the high courts which understand the “pulse of the region” and can better appreciate the intention behind the ban.

In its affidavit on Monday, the Tamil Nadu government rejected the claim that theatre and multiplex owners decided against screening the film due to fear of violence, saying the decision was purely taken by the theatre owners who were guided by the film’s poor response among public.

“It appears that the theatre and multiplex owners took the decision to stop the screening of the film from May 7 in view of criticism received, lack of well-known actors, poor audience response. This decision was made by theatre owners on their own and state had no role to play over the same,” the Tamil Nadu government’s affidavit filed by advocate Amit Anand Tiwari said.