Supreme Courts Stays The Ban On The Kerala Story
By A Special Correspondent
First publised on 2023-05-19 07:02:10
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The Supreme Court is right in ordering a stay on the West Bengal government order banning the film The Kerala Story from being screened in the state. The court was of the opinion that "every film will evoke some level of intolerance in certain sections of the population. That cannot be ground for a government to ban screening of a film". It allowed the film to be screened in the state immediately. But despite the Supreme Court order, the films is unlikely to be screened in the state immediately or even in the next few days as all slots are booked by other movies and will be given to The Kerala Story as and when they get vacated.
The Bengal government had argued that there was "grave apprehension of breach of peace" if the film was allowed to be screened in the state, disregarding the fact that it was being screened all over the country, including Kerala, with just a stray incident of violence reported in Akola in Maharashtra attributed to the screening of the film. The court did not consider it as a valid reason to ban the film. It said that "it is the duty of the state to maintain law and order. Apart from the restriction on freedom of speech and expression under Article 19(2), there is a positive obligation on the state to protect fundamental rights, which cannot be made subject to public emotions". When the state (and Muslim parties) raised the issue of exaggerated and allegedly false claims against a community in the film, the court asked the makers to show a disclaimer that 'claims are not backed by data'. The court also directed the Tamil Nadu government (the film was taken off the screens in the state ostensibly due to 'low footfalls' but actually it was after the state police advised exhibitors that it might lead to disturbances) to provide security to cinema halls and people who want to see the film.
Perhaps this order by the Supreme Court will deter politicians from banning films, books or other works of art on personal prejudice or ideological or political reasons. Just as the events shown in the movie The Kerala Story are not backed by data, so the ban on the film is not backed by solid intelligence reports that it will cause disturbance and this is proved by the fact that it is being screened all over India for the last three weeks without the report of any major disturbance in any state.
