Relief for ‘The Kerala Story 2’: High court pauses single judge order halting film release for two weeks

NEW DELHI: The Kerala High Court on Friday stayed for two weeks its single judge order that had put the release of the film ‘The Kerala Story 2 – Goes Beyond’ on hold.The division bench stayed the single judge’s interim order which had put the film’s release on hold for 15 days.The development comes amid a legal battle over the film’s screening in the state, with the producer challenging the earlier interim relief granted against its release. On Thursday, Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas had stayed the film’s release for 15 days. The court had observed that there was a prima facie “manifest non-application of mind to the requirement of law” by the censor board, the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).The judge had also said that “the possibility of communal disharmony or denigration of a community also being prima facie involved in the movie”, and that releasing it without scrutiny by higher authorities would be legally improper.Referring to the teaser, the court had further noted that it had “a prima facie potential to distort public perception and disturb communal harmony”.Following the single judge’s order, the film’s producer Vipul Amrutlal Shah approached a division bench of the high court late on Thursday night.The appeal was heard by a bench comprising Justices Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and P V Balakrishnan, which passed the interim stay order on Friday after having reserved its verdict on Thursday night. The detailed order is awaited.In his appeal, Shah contended that the film does not harm or denigrate the state of Kerala or any religious community and argued that “the film only portrays a social evil”, according to news agency PTI.He also told the court that halting the release would “financially finish” the producers, as the movie was scheduled to be screened in around 1,500 theatres across India and over 300 theatres abroad on February 27.With Friday’s decision, the operation of the earlier order has now been kept in abeyance for two weeks and the film is now screening in theatres.