Supreme Court expresses reluctance to entertain plea seeking stay on release of 'The Kerala Story'

The Sudipto Sen-directed and Vipul Amrutlal Shah-produced movie has drawn criticism for its assertions that approximately 32,000 Kerala women were tricked into becoming Muslims and coerced into joining ISIS.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to entertain a plea seeking a stay on the controversial film 'The Kerala Story' because it is a "worst kind of hate speech” and an “audio-visual propaganda”.

A bench of Justices KM Joseph and BV Nagarathna was told by senior advocate Kapil Sibal and advocate Nizam Pasha that the trailer of the movie, which is scheduled to be released on Friday, has garnered 16 million views.

Pasha said, "This movie is the worst kind of hate speech. It is completely audio-visual propaganda".

The bench said, “There are varieties of hate speeches. This film has got certification and has been cleared by the board. It's not like a person getting on the podium and starts giving an uncontrolled speech. If you want to challenge the movie's release, you should challenge the certification and through the appropriate forum”.

Sibal then said that he would do whatever was necessary.

Justice Nagarathna said the petitioner should first approach the high court. Pasha said there was no time left as the movie is scheduled to release on Friday.

“This is not a ground. Otherwise everyone will start coming to the Supreme Court”, the bench said.

Prominent filmmaker Vipul Amrutlal Shah’s upcoming film, The Kerala Story, is in the headlines since the teaser launch. It revolves around the stories of Hindu women of Kerala who were converted to Islam and trafficked to ISIS and other Islamic war zones in 2018-2019. It aims to give the audiences and people a clear picture of the events behind approximately 32,000 women going missing in Kerala, who are said to have been radicalized and deployed in terror missions in India and the world.  The Kerala Story film's trailer initiated protests in Kerala and some parts of the country, with some political parties calling for a ban on screening this specific film.

The film has Adah Sharma, Yogita Bihani, Sonia Balani and Siddhi Idnani in the lead roles which is produced by Vipul Amrutlal Shah and it will release on May 5 in Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu.

Currently, the Kerala government and the Opposition leaders have demanded the film be banned in the state. However, the film exhibitors stated that the audience would eventually watch the film on OTT, so it is better to release it in theatres.

A Rs 1 crore reward has been offered by the Muslim Youth League of Kerala to anyone who can show that IS radicalized 32,000 Malayali women.

(With PTI Inputs)