SC Upholds West Bengal's Government's Decision to Ban "The Kerala Story"

NEW DELHI: The West Bengal government's order to prohibit the movie "The Kerala Story" was ordered to be stayed by the Supreme Court on Thursday.

The Kerala Story was banned from theatres in West Bengal by an order made on May 8 by that administration, according to a bench presided over by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud. However, the court plans to overturn that decision.

The court ordered Tamil Nadu to provide sufficient protection to every cinema hall for the safe screening of "The Kerala Story" and to ensure the safety of spectators. The court further ordered the state not to directly or indirectly obstruct the playing of the movie.

The West Bengal government's senior attorney, A.M. Singhvi, was informed by the bench during the hearing that the state government had banned the movie due to the deaths of 13 people, "you get any 13 people they will say ban any movie. Unless you're showing them cartoons or sports..."

The countrywide release of the movie was mentioned by the supreme court. The demographics of West Bengal, according to Singhvi, are considerably distinct and must be taken into account.

The Chief Justice said, "You can't expect demographic to be the same everywhere...power is to be exercised in proportional way..."

The Chief Justice informed the West Bengal government's legal representative that, in the event of an incident, the state government could take action in a specific district about the movie's exhibition, but the entire state could not outlaw it.

The West Bengal government has argued before the Supreme Court that the movie "The Kerala Story" is based on falsified information and contains instances of hate speech that could lead to conflict between the groups. This argument serves as justification for the government's ban on the film's screenings.

The state government claimed in a counter affidavit that allowing the film to be shown would lead to unrest and not be in the interests of justice.

"The movie is based on manipulated facts and contains hate speech in multiple scenes that may hurt communal sentiments and cause disharmony between the communities which will eventually lead to a law and order situation, as has been gauged from various intelligence inputs received by the state government over a period of time," said the affidavit.

The state government claimed that by exercising its authority under section 6 (1) of the West Bengal Cinemas (Regulation) Act, it has imposed a ban on the film's exhibition in order to preserve public order and for the welfare of the general public.

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