The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to the West Bengal government on the plea of the makers of the movie, ‘The Kerala Story’, challenging the decision of the Mamata Banerjee government to ban the screening of the movie in the State.
Supreme Court also issued notice to Tamil Nadu on a de-facto ban on the movie in the State. Supreme Court sought a response from West Bengal and Tamil Nadu governments and posted the hearing of the plea on Monday.
“The movie is being exhibited all over the country, why should West Bengal ban the movie, why should you not allow it to run? The film is running in different parts of country with similar demographic profiles. This has nothing to do with the cinematic value of the movie, it may be good or bad,” Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said. The West Bengal government in a notification, last week, said that the movie ‘The Kerala Story’ is “likely to cause a breach of peace” and that it has prohibited the screening of the film to avoid “any incident of hatred or violence to maintain law and order in the state”.
West Bengal was the first state to ban the film, which narrates the ordeal of three women who are trafficked to ISIS camps after being converted to Islam through marriage. On the decision to ban the film, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said, “It is to avoid any incident of hatred and violence, and maintain peace in the state.”