Madras HC dismisses plea to ban ‘The Kerala Story’

Chennai: A summer vacation Bench of Justices AD Jagadish Chandira and C Saravanan of the Madras High Court on Thursday dismissed a public interest litigation petition seeking a ban on the controversial multilingual film ‘The Kerala Story’.

The petitioner, who works as a television journalist, had sought a ban on the film contending it makes a baseless claim of 32,000 Hindu and Christian women from Kerala having been converted to Islam and indoctrinated to join the Islamic State.

Petition rejected at admission stage itself

The court rejected the petition at the admission stage itself when the bench was informed the Supreme Court and Kerala High Court, which dealt with similar pleas, had refused to pass any order of restraint against the film and its makers.

The senior counsel for the filmmakers argued the movie was fictionalised script of true events and it could not be expected the members of the Central Board of Film Certification would go to Syria and Yemen to take a headcount of Indian women in the Islamic State. The CBFC had given ‘A’ Certification for the film.

Demand for a ban on the film

Meanwhile, Manithaneya Makkal Katchi leader and legislator MH Jawahirullah demanded to ban the film in Tamil Nadu.

The Tamil Nadu government and the DGP had issued advisories to all Commissioners of Police and Superintendents of Police to watch out for troublemakers as the film is slated for release on Friday.