'The Kerala Story 2' | High Court revokes stay order, paves way for release of film

A bench of justices Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and P V Balakrishnan passed the interim order on the appeal moved by the film's producer Vipul Amrutlal Shah late Thursday night, hours after the movie's release was stayed.

Thiruvananthapuram: A division bench of the Kerala High Court on Friday allowed the release of the controversial film 'The Kerala Story 2 - Goes beyond'.

The division bench stayed an interim stay issued by a single bench on Thursday for the film that was scheduled for release on Friday.

The film producers were learnt to be expediting the release of the film as ticket booking was already on.

The single bench of Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas maintained on Friday that prima facie the teaser itself had the potential to distort the public perception and disturb communal harmony.

The division bench of Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice P V Balakrishnan, that had an urgent hearing on an appeal by late on Friday evening, cited that the film was already given certification by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) by following the existing norms only.

The division bench also maintained that based on a few scenes of the film shown in the trailer, it could not be concluded that the film violates the certification norms. The bench also said that it was for the state to deal with any law and order problem over the release of the film.

Producer Vipul Amrutlal Shah said in the appeal that the film was only portraying social evils. He also said that the film did not denigrate Kerala. The story was not confined to Kerala only, but other states like Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, he had maintained.

Three petitions were filed at the HC against the release of the film. The single bench stayed the release for 15 days and directed the CBFC to consider the objections raised by the petitioners and pass orders within two weeks.

The film that tells about 'love jihad' already met with strong resistance in the state with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan himself openly coming out against the film. Kerala also witnessed protests against the scenes in the trailer that shows a Hindu girl from Kerala being forced to eat beef. The film is directed by Kamakhya Narayan Singh.

The film, which is alleged to be a propaganda movie, is also being released just ahead of the assembly polls in Kerala.