Madras HC dismisses PIL seeking ban on 'The Kerala Story' film

The Madras High Court on Thursday rejected a public interest litigation (PIL) petition seeking a ban on Hindi film, 'The Kerala Story' on the ground that it makes a baseless claim of 32,000 Hindu and Christian women from Kerala having been converted to Islam and made to join the ISIS terrorist movement.

The petition was filed by BR Aravindakshan, a Chennai-based journalist stating that the movie will affect the country's sovereignty and unity causing disturbance to the public order.

It contended that it movie was an intentional attempt to portray the State of Kerala as a terrorist-supporting state.

"Why are you coming so late? If you'd come earlier, we could've asked someone to watch the movie and decide. You have not seen the movie yet. How can you assume that there will be problems? Moreover, the Kerala High Court is already seized of the matter..We're dismissing this case, sir. The Kerala High Court and the Supreme Court have already dealt with the issue," Justice Chandira said, as reported by Live Law.

BR Aravindakshan tweeted that the case had been dismissed, even as he stated that the bench had asked him why he had approached the court in the last hour, and that had he come earlier, the court could have asked someone to watch the film and decide.

Aravindakshan said he had requested the Centre in November last year ''to verify the truth of the information in the teaser of that film.''

The film claims that young Hindu women were radicalised and converted to Islam in Kerala and inducted into the terrorist outfit Islamic State (IS). ''But they have issued a censor certificate without taking any action on my petition. So I approached the court as per law to direct the central government to check the number of women who have converted and joined the extremist movement, after 177 days without any other option,'' Aravindakshan added.

'The Kerala Story', starring Adah Sharma, is released in cinemas and is portrayed as 'unearthing' the events behind 'approximately 32,000 women' allegedly going missing from Kerala. The Supreme Court had earlier on Thursday refused to entertain a petition challenging the censor board certification granted to the controversial movie.

According to the CPI(M) and the Congress in Kerala, the film falsely claims that 32,000 women got converted and radicalised and were deployed in terror missions in India and the world.