Kerala HC pulls up petitioners in PIL against movie ‘Kerala Story’

Kochi: High court on Thursday pulled up the petitioners in a PIL challenging the use of the word ‘Kerala' in the title of the movie ‘The Kerala Story 2 – Goes Beyond' for casting aspersions on the judges of a division bench that had lifted the stay on the release of the movie in an appeal.The bench of Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Justice V M Syam Kumar flagged certain controversial submissions in the PIL filed by Chandramohan K C, a retired schoolteacher, along with Adv Mehnaz P Mohammed, and suggested that a fresh petition be filed after removing the paragraphs that cast aspersions on the judges.The petitioners alleged in the PIL that a film portraying the story of three victims of forced religious conversion, with a title containing the word ‘Kerala', would create enmity against the Muslim community in the state. They also questioned the manner in which the division bench considered, on the same day, the appeal challenging the single bench's stay order on the release of the movie and later granted permission to exhibit the film.Noting the submission, HC orally criticised the petitioners for casting aspersions against the judges. If the petitioners were aggrieved, they could approach the Supreme Court. The bench orally observed that the institution of the judiciary must be respected, adding that judges may come and go, but the institution would remain. The bench further cautioned the petitioners not to attack judges or benches and said such conduct would not be tolerated.HC also stated that the petitioners had made the controversial submissions without knowing the circumstances under which the matter was taken up. It further noted that such remarks could even attract action for contempt of court. Accordingly, the petitioners expressed willingness to remove the controversial submissions in the petition. HC subsequently allowed them to file a fresh petition.