New Delhi, May 12 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Friday sought response of the West Bengal and Tamil Nadu governments on a plea by the makers of ‘The Kerala Story’. A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha questioned the West Bengal government, saying the film was being screened in the rest of the country without any problem and there was no reason to ban it. “The film is running in the rest of the country, including states with similar demographic composition, and nothing has happened. It has nothing to do with the artistic value of the film. If people don’t like the film, they won’t watch the film. ” the bench told senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for the West Bengal government.
Singhvi said that according to intelligence inputs, there could be a law and order problem and peace between different communities could be disturbed. The bench also asked the Tamil Nadu government to specify the measures taken to provide adequate security to theaters showing “The Kerala Story”.
“The state government cannot say that it will look the other way when cinema halls are attacked and chairs are burnt,” the bench told advocate Amit Anand Tiwari, appearing for the Tamil Nadu government.
Senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for the producers of the film, said that there is actually a ban in Tamil Nadu as theaters showing the film are being threatened and have stopped screening. “For West Bengal, we are demanding revocation of the ban order,” he said.
“We are issuing notices to both the states and they can file their reply by Wednesday,” the bench said. We will hear the matter on Thursday. ‘The Kerala Story’ starring Adah Sharma hit the screens on May 5. The film, directed by Sudipto Sen, claims that women from Kerala were forced to convert to Islam and recruited by the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group.