Supreme Court stays West Bengal govt order banning film ‘The Kerala Story’

“Prima facie, we are of the view at this stage that the prohibition which has been imposed by the state of West Bengal suffers from overbreadth,” said the bench, which included Justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwala.

Saying that the “statutory requirements for the imposition of such a prohibition have not been fulfilled on the basis of the material which has been disclosed in the counter affidavit”, the bench ordered: “Hence, the order of the Additional Secretary of the Government of West Bengal in the Department of Information and Cultural Affairs dated May 8, 2023 shall remain stayed.”

Recording the Tamil Nadu government’s counter-affidavit, stating that there is no direct or indirect ban on the film in the state, the court said: “We direct that adequate security shall be provided for every cinema hall and requisite arrangements shall be made to ensure the safety of moviegoers who wish to see the film in any theatre in the state”.

On the dispute over the film’s claim that 32,000 women had gone missing, the filmmakers agreed to include a disclaimer stating that “there is no authentic data to back up the suggestion that the figure of conversion is 32,000 or any other established figure” and that “the film represents a fictionalised account of the events which form the subject matter of the film”.

Appearing for the producer, Senior Advocate Harish Salve said the film already has a disclaimer which says it is a “fictionalsed and dramatised” version of the events. He, however, agreed that the additional disclaimer “will be added… no later than by 5 pm on May 20”.

The court said it will also hear appeals against the Madras High Court order, which had dismissed the challenge to the film, and the Kerala High Court order, which refused to grant an interim stay on its release, in the second week of July, after it reopens.

The bench said it would watch the film. “We have given our mind prima facie. We have introduced the disclaimer. We are going to define the doctrine. We will also look at what should be permissible and what would not be permissible… certainly there are certain aspects of this case which require us to consider… we will look at the film,” the CJI said.