SC agrees to list on May 15 plea against HC order on 'The Kerala Story' release

NEW DELHI: Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to list on May 15 an appeal against the interim order of the Kerala High Court which refused to stay the release of the film 'The Kerala Story'.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal mentioned the matter before a bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud for the early listing of the plea.

The Kerala High Court had on May 5 refused to issue a stay order on the release of the film 'The Kerala Story'.

Asserting that secular Kerala society will accept the film for what it is, the High Court asked petitioners how the movie, which it observed is fiction and not history, would create sectarianism and conflict in the society.

The court sought to know whether the entire trailer was against society.

"Nothing will happen just because the film is screened. The teaser of the film was released in November. What was offensive in the film? What is wrong in saying that Allah is the only God? The country gives citizens the right to believe in their religion and God and spread it. What was offensive in the trailer?" the court observed while considering a batch of petitions seeking to cancel the film's censor certificate.

"So many movies have already come out about such organizations. There have been references against Hindu monks and Christian priests in many films before. Did you see all this in the way of fiction? What is so special now? How does this movie create sectarianism and conflict in the society?" the court observed.

"The Kerala Story' film is based on a terror conspiracy. It shows the ugly truth of terrorism and exposes the design of terrorists", the PM said adding that Congress is standing with terrorists who are trying to ban the film.

'The Kerala Story' stars Adah Sharma, Yogita Bihani, Siddhi Idnani and Sonia Balani in the lead roles. The trailer of Sen's film 'The Kerala Story' came under fire as it claimed that 32,000 girls from the state went missing and later joined the terrorist group, ISIS. Faced with backlash the makers then withdrew the figure and called the movie the story of three women from Kerala, in its trailer description.