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A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Friday (February 27) cleared the upcoming Bollywood drama ‘Kerala Story 2 – Goes Beyond’ for release, a day after a Single Bench stayed the release.
The bench of Justices S.A. Dharmadhikari and P.V. Balakrishnan relied on the Supreme Court\s 2018 findings upholding the freedom of speech and expression, staying state-level bans on the film ‘Padmaavat’. The Supreme Court had held that once a film has been granted certificate by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), “there is prima facie a presumption that the authority concerned has taken into account all the guidelines including public order.”
The High Court also referred to the recent decision of the Supreme Court in the case of the film originally titled ‘Ghooskhor Pandit’ which too held that once the expert body has considered the impact of the film on the public and has cleared the film, it is no excuse to say that there may be a law and order situation due to screening of the movie.
A Single Bench of the High Court comprising Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas had on February 26, stayed the released of the film for public viewership for fifteen days and asked the government to take a decision in the meanwhile on the revision petition filed against the CBFC clearance.
On appeal, the Division Bench noted that petitioner in the case had not seen the movie in full and was relying on the teaser released to substantiate their contentions in their writ petitions.
The High Court said, the top court’s decisions in the case of the films `Padmaavat’ and ‘Ghooskhor Pandir’ and said it “thus clearly stand to advice that once a certificate has been issued, there is, prima facie, a presumption that the authority concerned has taken into account all the guidelines, including public order, and that if, due to the release of the movie, any issue of public order arises, it is the duty of the state to maintain it.”
It added, “this presumption thus includes that, the film has been judged in its entirety from the point of view of its overall impacts, by taking into consideration the principles enunciated in Section 5B of the Cinematograph Act, 1952 and the relevant guidelines. In such circumstances, merely on the basis of a few clippings and without viewing the movie, the finding of the learned Single Judge that the guidelines for certification have not been borne in mind by the CBFC while granting certification, cannot be countenanced. That apart, the fact that insertions/ excisions/modifications, have been carried out by the appellant in the movie as per the directions of the CBFC would only further reinforce the fact that there is an application of mind from the part of CBFC while granting the certificate.
What the Single Judge said in the February 26 order?
The Single Judge bench of Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas said, “it is true that courts should be slow to interfere with the release of any movie that too at the eleventh hour. However, when the material available, prima facie indicate a manifest absence of application of mind to the requirement of law by CBFC, and the possibility of communal disharmony or denigration of a community also being prima facie involved in the movie, its release without scrutiny by the higher authorities would be legally improper.’
Who was the petitioner?
The Single Bench order came on a plea by one Freddy Francis, a resident of Kerala working in Spain. He said that he is being subjected to severe racial profiling “due to the ill and defamatory content in the prequel titled ‘Kerala Story’.” He contended that he “is personally suffering and the first movie made it difficult for him to live and work abroad.” Francis said the “content of the new movie, as revealed from the visuals that are circulated, depict an entire State as a terror hub and unsafe space for daughters, which has affected him personally as well.”
